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LECTURE 


f^'   PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 


I 


PRUSSIA 


READ  BEFORE  THE  AMERICAN  INSTITUTE, 


GEORGE  S.  HILLARD,  ESQ. 


OF    BOSTON. 


KEY  &  BIDDLE,  23  MINOR  STREET. 
1836. 


PREFACE, 


The  Discourse,  which  forms  a  principal 
part  of  the  following  pages,  was  furnished  to 
the  Institute  by  particular  desire.  The 
writer  of  this  abstract,  having  been  long 
convinced  that  the  institutions  of  New  Eng- 
land, for  popular  education  fulfilled  the 
design  of  such  education,  but  very  imper- 
fectly, desirous  also,  to  "  exclude  boasting," 
and  to  substitute,  if  possible,  some  actual 
improvements  in  practice,  such  as  might  ac- 
complish the  true  design  of  popular  instruc- 
tion, took  occasion,  in  the  summer  of  1835, 
to  publish  in  a  weekly  paper,  a  series  of 
articles,  very  imperfectly  illustrative  of  the 
actual  state,  and  possible  amendment  of  the 
common  schools  of  the  country.  Those 
anonymous  speculations,  not  ascribed  to  any 
female,  suggesting  some  applications  of  the 
Prussian  system  of  education  to  the  Ameri- 


IV  PREPACK. 

can  people,  were  so  far  acceptable  to  some 
of  the  most  intelligent  members  of  the  In- 
stitute, that  they  applied  to  the  writer  for 
more  detailed  illustrations  of  that  system. 
These  were  readily  furnished,  and,  in  the 
form  of  the  annexed  discourse,  were  read, 
as  a  favour  to  the  writer,  by  George  S.  Hil- 
lard  Esq.,  in  August,  1S35. 

This  Discourse  was  detached  from  the 
annually  printed  discourses  of  the  Institute, 
and  is  now  printed  in  a  convenient  and 
cheap  form,  to  furnish,  for  wide  circula- 
tion, it  is  hoped,  some  practical  views  of 
education,'which  may  be  extensively  bene- 
ficial. Other  documents  and  observations, 
in  relation  to  this  great  public  interest,  are 
subjoined  for  further  illustration  of  it.  The 
v\  hole  claims  no  other  merit  than  the  desire 
to  diffuse  sound  and  practical  ideas,  among 
all  who  take  any  part  in  meliorating  and 
exalting  general  society,  by  means  of  a  ra- 
tional, and  truly  moral  education  of  all  class- 
es of  the  people. 

ELIZA  ROBBINS. 

Phxiadklphu,  March  20th,  1836. 


PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 


PRUSSIA. 


The  writer  has  been  requested  to  furnisli 
to  the  Institute  some  particulars  of  the 
system  of  national  education  in  present  use 
in  the  kingdom  of  Prussia.  The  spirit, 
rather  than  the  details,  of  this  great  institu- 
tion is  applicable  in  the  United  States, 
and  its  whole  economy  and  general  charac- 
ter are  now  offered  to  the  American  public 
in  Mrs.  Austin's  translation  of  Cousin's 
Report.  In  the  preface  to  that  work  the 
author  asserts  that,  "  There  is  such  a  cohe- 
rency, both  in  the  fabric  it  describes,  and  in 
the  description,  that  no  one  will  fully  un- 
derstand the  system,  who  cannot  bear  the 
toil  of  following  the  author  step  by  step. 


6  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

Portions  may  be  selected  which  show  the 
beautiful  spirit  pervading  the  whole,  and 
which  must,  I  should  think,  touch  any  hu- 
man heart;  but  its  merit  as  a  piece  of  legis- 
lation— as  a  system  living  and  working — 
can  only  be  appreciated  when  studied  con- 
nectedly and  in  detail." — These  remarks  of 
Mrs.  Austin  suggest  the  character  of  this 
institution,  and  it  is  hoped,  will  commend 
it  to  persons  interested  in  public  education, 
and  in  its  practical  improvement  in  the 
United  States. 

Public  Instruction,  in  relation  to  this 
system,  signifies,  "  instruction  provided 
for  the  whole  public  by  the  state.'^''* 

The  territory  of  the  kingdom  of  Prussia 
is  divided  into  ten  provinces,  the  provinces 
into  departments,  the  departments  into  cir- 
cles, and  the  circles  into  parishes.  The 
whole  of  the  public  establishments  of  edu- 
cation, throughout  these  subdivisions  of 
territory,  comprehend  elementarj'-  or  pri- 

*  Cousin. 


I 


IN  PRUSSIA.  7 

mary  schools;  burgher  or  middle  schools; 
gymnasia  or  high  schools;  and  Universities. 
All  these  institutions  are  under  the  regula- 
tion of  the  laws,  and  under  the  protection 
and  ministration  of  an  appointed  magistracy. 
The  present  system  came  into  operation  in 
1819;  it  has  therefore  been  subjected  to  fif- 
teen years  of  experiment,  and  has  been  con- 
stantly growing  in  popular  favor,  and  in  the 
estimation  of  the  most  public-spirited  and 
philosophical  minds  over  all  Europe.  The 
whole  system  is  under  the  cognisance  and 
control  of  the  minister  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, who  is  assisted  in  his  function  by  a 
council,  which,  to  use  the  words  of  Cousin, 
serves  to  prevent  the  probable  errors  of  "  a 
single  and  variable  head;  to  make  new 
rules  or  modify  old  ones;  to  aid  the  judg- 
ment of  the  minister  as  to  what  establish- 
ments it  may  be  desirable  to  found,  or  what 
to  suppress;  above  all,  to  guide  him  in  the 
appreciation  and  the  choice  of  men,  and  to 
serve  as  a  rampart  to  ward  off  solicitation 
and  intrigue.'^  The  council  are  sometimes 
severally  employed  to  visit  the  institutions 


PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 


under  cognisance  of  the  minister.  These 
vists  are  unexpected,  alwa)^s  determined  by 
a  real  necessity,  and  entrusted  to  men  espe- 
cially fitted  for  the  occasion.  In  the  general 
course  of  affairs,  the  correspondence  and 
intervention  of  inferior  authorities,  imme- 
diately connected  with  the  ministry,  is  suf- 
ficient to  carry  on  the  system  in  its  ramifi- 
cations most  remote  from  the  centre  of 
authority. 

Every  department,  circle,  and  parish,  has 
its  school  board,  which  regulates  its  respec- 
tive affairs,  and  every  school  its  proper  in- 
spectors or  committee,  consisting  of  laity 
and  clergy,  who  have  particular  and  fre- 
quently recurring  duties  in  regard  to  the 
schools.  The  minister,  though  thoroughly 
informed  of  results,  does  not  interfere  mi- 
nutely with  details.  His  information  of  the 
operation  of  the  whole  system  is  nearly 
perfect,  being  gathered  from  full  and  accu- 
rate reports  of  the  dependent  function- 
aries. 

Two  features  in  this  system  are  very 
striking — one,  is  the  respect  felt  by  the  na- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  y 

tion  for  the  dignity  and  uses  of  education; 
and  the  other,  the  positive  fitness  required 
by  the  laws,  for  the  exercise  of  the  respec- 
tive duties  of  those  employed  in  the  admin- 
istration of  it.  "The  high  rank  assigned 
to  the  head  of  public  instruction,  marks 
the  respect  in  which  every  thing  relating  to 
that  important  subject  is  held  by  the  govern- 
ment; hence  science  assumes  her  proper 
place  in  the  state.  Civilisation,  the  intellec- 
tual and  moral  interests  of  society,  have 
their  appointed  ministry.  This  ministry 
embraces  every  thing  relating  to  science, 
and  consequently  all  schools,  libraries,  and 
kindred  institutions.'^ 

"  The  spirit  of  the  Prussian  monarchy 
is  decidedly  adverse  to  unpaid  functionaries 
of  any  kind,"  says  M.  Cousin,  therefore 
the  administrators  of  the  public  education 
have  generally  some  small  salary  proper  to 
their  office.  "In  Prussia  all  public  servants 
are  paid;  and  as  no  post  whatsoever  can  be 
obtained  without  passing  through  the  most 
rigorous  examinations,  all  are  able  and  en- 
lightened men.  And  as,  moreover,  they  are 


10  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

taken  from  every  class  in  society,  they  bring, 
to  the  exercise  of  their  duties,  the  general 
spirit  of  their  nation,  while  in  that  exercise 
they  contract  habits  of  public  business." 
By  such  an  arrangement  it  must  be  seen 
that  voluntary  benefactors  are  excluded,  ex- 
cept in  the  bestovvment  of  donations  and 
legacies  to  the  schools,  and  also  that  the  in- 
trusive counsels,  and  arbitrary  proceedings 
of  well  intentioned  ignorance,  cannot  pre- 
vent the  constant  improvement  and  progress, 
which  wise  men,  associated  together  for  the 
public  benefit,  will  certainly  aim  at,  and  may 
probably  accomplish.  No  languor,  negli- 
gence, and  apathy  are  likely  to  enter  into 
the  applications  of  a  system  guarded  in  so 
many  ways.  Every  parish  must,  by  the 
law  of  the  land,  have  a  school;  and  the  pas- 
tor, or  minister  of  that  parish,  is  in  virtue 
of  his  office,  the  inspector  of  that  school; 
associated  with  him  is  a  committee  of  admin- 
istration and  superintendence,  composed  of 
some  of  the  principal  persons  in  the  parish. 
If  all  the  operations  of  this  association  were 


IN  PRUSSIA.  11 

carried  on  without  any  check  or  authority, 
the  methods  and  results  of  instruction  might 
be  correspondent  entirely  to  the  knowledge 
or  ignorance,  the  vigilance  or  negligence,  of 
the  school  committee,  or  trustees.  But  every 
department  has  a  board  of  education,  called 
the  Regency,  which  employs  school-inspec- 
tors, who  reside  in  the  chief  town  of  every 
circle,  and  who  inspect  all  the  schools  in  it; 
and  another  officer,  the  school  councillor, 
also  inspects  the  schools,  quickens  and  keeps 
alive  the  interest  of  the  school  committees 
and  the  schoolmasters,  and  makes  reports 
to  the  higher  authority  of  the  excellences 
and  defects  of  the  particular  schools;  and 
thus  whatever  is  wrong  is  known,  and  is  put 
in  the  way  of  redress. 

The  preceding  statement  is  only  a  brief 
notice  of  the  general  economy  of  these 
schools.  The  translation  of  Mrs.  Austin  is 
limited  to  the  details  of  primary  instruc- 
tion, and  to  this  only  the  present  abstract 
from  Cousin  is  also  restricted. — Cousin  di- 
vides his  report  into  the  rules  and  tYie^factSy 
thus: 


12  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

I.  The  organization  of  primary  instruc- 
tion; the  laws  and  rules  by  which  it  is  go- 
verned. 

II.  What  the  laws  and  regulations  have 
actually  produced. — The  rules  are,  concern- 
ing the  duty  of  all  parents  and  guardians  to 
send  their  children  to  the  primary  schools; 
the  duty  of  each  parish  to  maintain  a 
school,  at  its  own  cost;  general  objects  and 
different  gradations  of  primary  instruc- 
tion; how  primary  teachers  are  to  be  train- 
ed, placed,  and  rewarded  or  punished;  au- 
thorities employed  in  superintendence;  and 
private  schools. 

The  duty  of  parents  to  educate  their  child- 
ren, by  means  of  schools,  letters,  and  science 
haslongbeen  recognised  in  northern  Europe. 
Cousin  believes  that  the  system  of  the  present 
education  in  Prussia  originated  in  national 
tendencies — in  a  deep  and  general  feeling 
that  the  moral  and  intellectual  well-being 
of  the  state,  and  of  the  individual,  must  be 
promoted  by  letters,  science,  and  religion; 
the  last  two  being  especially  represented 
and  inculcated  by  means  of  literature. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  13 

<^This  duty,"  says  Cousin, "  is  so  natural, 
so  rooted  in  all  the  moral  and  legal  habits 
of  the  country,  that  it  is  expressed  by  a 
single  word,  [in  English,]  school- obliga- 
tion. In  Prussia  the  state  has  for  many 
years  imposed  on  all  parents  the  strict  ob- 
ligation of  sending  their  children  to  school, 
unless  they  are  able  to  prove  that  they  give 
them  a  competent  education  at  home.  They 
are  bound  to  send  their  children  to  school 
from  the  age  of  five  years.  By  the  law  of 
1819  this  obligation  is  rigidly  enforced,  and 
yet  it  is  not  esteemed  tyrannical,  but  the 
school  is  generally  regarded  as  a  privilege. 
All  masters  and  manufacturers  who  employ 
children  as  servants  or  apprentices,  says  the 
law,  shall  be  required  to  give  them  a  suitable 
education  from  their  seventh  to  their  four- 
teenth year  inclusive.  No  child  can  be  re- 
moved from  school  till  the  inspectors  exam- 
ine whether  he  has  gone  through  the  whole 
elementary  course.  A  rigid  census  is  taken 
of  children,  and  in  case  of  any  negligence  of 
parents  or  guardians,  in  regard  to  their  reg- 
ular attendance  at  school,  the  magistrate  is 
2 


14  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

called  in,  to  enforce  the  law.    But  consider- 
able facilities  are  aflforded  to  the  observance 
of  this  law — for  the  time  employed  upon 
lessons  is  so   arranged  as  to  leave  children 
several  hours  daily  for  work  at  home.    Care 
is  every  where  taken  to  furnish  necessitous 
parents  with  the  means  of  sending  their 
children  to  school  by  providing  them  with 
clothing,  books,  &c.     To  these  facilities  are 
added  the  benevolent  and  enlightened  per- 
suasions of  the  school  committee,  who  re- 
present to  the  parents  the  exceeding  value  of 
a  good  elementary  education,  and  spread 
among  the  young  a  thirst  for  knowledge, 
which  they  can  only  obtain  by  means   of 
the  legal  provision,  which  offers  it  to  them. 
Every  parish  is  bound  to  have  an  elemen- 
tary school.     The  schools  are  supported  in 
part  by  endowments  variously  derived,  by  a 
tax  upon  property,  and  by  contributions  of 
parents  who  are  able  to  pay  for  education; 
The  financial  provisions,  are  procured   in 
these  ways,  according  to  local  circumstances. 
It  may  happen  that  one  village  will  be  too 
poor  to  defray  the  expense  of  a  school;  in 


IN  PRUSSIA.  15 

that  case  the  combination  of  several,  includ- 
ing insulated  farm-houses,  is  allowed  in 
order  to  form  a  school. 

The  number  of  children  in  one  school 
must  not  be  too  great.  One  master  cannot 
take  more  than  a  hundred.  Difference  of  re- 
ligion does  not  prevent  children  from  attend- 
ing school  together,  unless  the  populousness 
of  the  place  conveniently  separates  them 
into  schools  of  distinctive  denominations. 

In  relation  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
schools,  the  law  thus  defines  the  provision: 

1.  A  suitable  income  for  schoolmasters 
and  school  mistresses,  and  a  small  annuity 
for  them  when  past  service. 

2.  A  building  for  the  purposes  of  teaching 
and  exercise,  properly  laid  out,  kept  in 
repair,  and  warmed. 

3.  Furniture,  books,  pictures,  instruments, 
and  all  things  necessary  for  the  lessons  and 
exercises. 

4.  Pecuniary  assistance  for  necessitous 
scholars. 

Some  mention  has  been  made  of  the  sour- 
ces by  which  the  expense  of  the  schools  is 


16  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

defrayed.  A  small  but  certain  recompense  is 
afforded  to  the  teacher  while  labouring,  and 
when  superannuated,  and  some  assistance  is 
afforded  by  the  public  bounty  for  the  widow 
and  orphans  of  this  most  respectable  and 
honoured  labourer  for  the  public  good. 

The  conditions  which  are  essential  in  a 
school  house  are  a  healthy  situation,  rooms 
of  sufficient  size,  w^ell  ventilated,  and  kept 
with  the  greatest  neatness.  Every  school  in 
a  village,  or  small  town,  has  a  garden,  and 
this  garden  is  made  available  to  the  scholars 
for  instruction  in  botany,  and  horticulture. 
A  gravelled  court  must  he  laid  out  in  front 
or  rear  of  the  school  for  exercises. 

There  shall  be,  according  to  the  degree  of 
every  school,  a  collection  of  maps  and  geo- 
graphical instruments;  models  for  drawing 
and  writing;  instruments  and  collections  for 
s  udying  mathematics  and  natural  history. 
Similar  articles  for  the  inferior  schools, 
must  be  regulated  in  quantity  and  quality 
by  the  possible  means  of  procuring  them. 

All  landholders,  tenants  and  household- 
ers, contribute,  in  proportion  to  their  pro- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  17 

perty,  to  the  support  of  the  schools.  The 
scholars,  according  to  their  means,  or  the 
funds  of  the  school,  which  may  be  greater 
or  less,  pay  school  fees.  No  schoolmaster 
collects  the  fees,  but  this  must  be  done  by 
the  committee.  Children  are  permitted  to 
contribute  a  fund  for  the  education  of  others 
too  poor  to  pay  their  portion  of  the  charge. 
There  are  some  schools  in  large  places  en- 
tirely free  to  the  poor. 

No  schoolmaster  can  be  allowed  to  in- 
crease his  income  by  occupations  unsuit- 
able to  the  dignity  of  his  office,  or  deroga- 
tory to  morality  in  the  highest  sense,  or 
likely  to  divert  his  attention  from  his 
studies.  He  may  be  a  clerk  or  organist  in 
a  church,  and  may  receive  the  income  of 
the  place,  provided  the  service  of  the  school 
be  not  interrupted  by  such  employment. 
No  master  or  mistress  shall  engage  in  any 
other  occupation  without  special  permission, 
and  that  is  never  granted,  except  perfectly 
consistent  with  the  peculiar  decorum  of  the 
teacher's  station. 

The  committees  are  legally  responsible 
2* 


18  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

for  all  expenses  of  the  schools,  and  manage- 
ment of  funds. 

The  province  of  primary,  middle,  and 
high  schools,  together  with  the  universities, 
is  recognised  to  be  nearly  the  same  in  Prus- 
sia as  we  regard  it,  except  that  the  Prussian 
system  aims  at  higher  objects  than  the  com- 
mon education  of  this  country,  and  employs 
more  definite  means  for  the  peculiar  ends  of 
instruction. 

"The  first  vocation  of  every  school," 
says  the  law  of  1819,  "  is,  to  train  up  the 
young  in  such  a  manner  as  to  implant  in 
their  minds  a  knowledge  of  the  relation  of 
man  to  God,  and  at  the  same  time  to  excite 
both  the  will  and  the  strength  to  govern 
their  lives  after  the  spirit  and  precepts  of 
Christianity.  Schools  must  early  train  chil- 
dren to  piety,  and  therefore  must  strive  to 
second  and  complete  the  early  instruc- 
tions of  parents.  In  every  school,  there- 
fore, the  occupations  of  the  day  shall  begin 
and  end  with  a  short  prayer  and  some  pious 
reflections,  which  the  master  must  contrive 
to  render  so  varied  and  impressive,  that  a 


IN  PRUSSIA.  19 

moral  exercise  shall  never  degenerate  into 
an  affair  of  habit.  All  the  solemnities  of  the 
schools  shall  be  interspersed  with  songs  of 
a  religious  character. 

"  Care  shall  be  taken  to  inculcate  on  youth 
the  duty  of  obedience  to  the  laws,  fidelity 
and  attachment  to  the  sovereign  and  state, 
in  order  that  these  virtues  may  combine  to 
produce  in  them  the  sacred  love  of  coun- 
try. 

"  The  paternal  attachment  of  the  masters, 
their  affectionate  kindness  towards  all  their 
pupils,  are  the  most  powerful  means  of 
preserving  them  from  immoral  influences, 
and  of  inclining  them  to  virtue. 

"  No  kind  of  punishment  which  has  a 
tendency  to  weaken  the  sentiment  of  honour 
shall  in  any  case  be  inflicted.  Corporal 
punishments,  in  case  they  be  necessary, 
shall  be  devoid  of  cruelty,  and  in  no  case 
injurious  either  to  modesty  or  health.'^ 

Some  further  regulations  of  these  schools, 
and  the  detail  of  their  course  of  instruction 
is  taken  entire,  as  follows,  from  Cousin's  re* 
port: — 


20  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

"  Incorrigible  scholars,  or  those  whose 
example  or  influence  may  be  pernicious  to 
their  schoolfellows,  after  all  the  resources 
of  paternal  authority,  joined  to  that  of  the 
masters,  shall  have  been  exhausted,  shall  be 
expelled  in  compliance  with  the  judgment 
of  the  school  committees. 

"  By  making  the  pupils  themselves,  as 
they  advance  in  age,  assist  in  maintaining 
order  in  the  school,  they  will  be  accustomed 
to  feel  themselves  useful  and  active  mem- 
bers of  society. 

"  Primary  instruction  shall  have  for  its 
aim  to  develope  the  faculties  of  the  soul, 
the  reason,  the  senses,  and  the  bodily 
strength.  It  shall  comprehend  religion  and 
morals,  the  knowledge  of  size  and  numbers, 
of  nature  and  man;  corporeal  exercises, 
singing,  and,  lastly,  imitation  of  form  by 
drawing  and  writing. 

"  In  every  school  for  girls,  without  ex- 
ception, the  works  peculiar  to  their  sex 
shall  be  taught. 

"  Gymnastics  shall  be  considered  as  a  ne- 
cessary part  of  a  complete  system  of  edu- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  21 

cation,  and  shall  be  taught  by  simple  rules 
favourable  to  the  promotion  of  the  health 
and  bodily  strength  of  children. 

**  Every  complete  elementary  school  ne- 
cessarily comprehends  the  following  ob- 
jects:— 

"  1.  Religious  instruction,  as  a  means  of 
forming  the  moral  character  of  children  ac- 
cording to  the  positive  truths  of  Christi- 
anity. 

"2.  The  German  language,  and  in  pro- 
vinces where  a  foreign  language  is  spoken, 
the  language  of  the  country,  in  addition  to 
the  German. 

"  3.  The  elements  of  geometry,  together 
v^^ith  the  general  principles  of  drawing. 

'^4.  Calculation  and  practical  arithme- 
tic. 

<'  5.  The  elements  of  physics,  geogra- 
phy, general  history,  and  especially  the  his- 
tory of  Prussia. 

^'  Care  must  be  taken  to  introduce  and 
combine  these  branches  of  knowledge  with 
the  reading,  and  writing  lessons,  as  much 
as  possible,  independently  of  the  instruction 


22  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

which  shall  be  given  upon  those  subjects 
specially. 

''  6.  Singing;  with  a  view  to  improve 
the  voices  of  the  children,  to  elevate  their 
hearts  and  minds,  to  perfect  and  ennoble 
the  popular  songs  and  church  music  or 
psalmody. 

"  7.  Writing  and  gymnastic  exercises, 
which  fortify  all  the  senses,  and  especially 
that  of  sight. 

"8.  The  simplest  manual  labours,  and 
some  instructions  in  husbandry, according  to 
the  agriculture  of  the  respective  parts  of 
the  country. 

"The  instructions  in  religion,  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic,  and  singing  are  strictly 
indispensable  in  every  school.  No  school 
shall  be  considered  as  a  complete  elemen- 
tary school,  unless  it  fulfil  the  whole 
scheme  of  instruction  just  marked  out. 

"  Every  burgher  school  shall  afford  in- 
struction on  the  following  heads: — 

"  1.  Religion  and  morals. 

"  2.  The  German  language,  and  at  the 
same  time,  the  language  of  the  country  in 


IN  PRUSSIA.  23 

the  provinces  not  German;  reading,  compo- 
sition, exercises  in  style,  study  of  the 
national  classics.  In  all  the  German  part  of 
the  country,  the  modern  foreign  languages 
are  an  accessory  branch  of  study. 

"  3.  Latin  is  taught  to  all  the  children, 
within  certain  limits,  as  a  means  of  exer- 
cising their  faculties  and  their  judgment, 
whether  they  be  or  be  not  to  enter  the 
higher  schools. 

"4.  The  elements  of  mathematics,  and 
especially  a  thorough  course  of  practical 
arithmetic. 

"  5.  Physical  science,  as  far  as  is  sufficient 
to  explain  the  most  remarkable  phenomena 
of  nature. 

"  6.  Geography  and  history  combined, 
in  order  to  give  some  knowledge  of  the 
earth,  of  the  general  history  of  the  world, 
of  the  people  who  inhabit  it,  and  the  em- 
pires into  which  it  is  divided.  Prussia,  its 
history,  laws,  and  constitution,  shall  form 
the  subject  of  a  special  study. 

''  7.  The  principles  of  drawing  shall  be 


24  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

taught  to  all,  concurrently  with  the  lessons 
in  physics,  natural  history,  and  geometry. 

"  8.  Writing  must  be  carefully  attended 
to,  and  the  hand  trained  to  write  distinctly 
and  neatly. 

"  9.  The  singing  lessons  shall  be  attend- 
ed by  all  the  pupils,  not  only  with  a  view 
to  form  them  to  that  art,  but  to  qualify 
them  to  assist  in  the  services  of  the  church 
with  propriety  and  solemnity,  by  singing 
the  psalms  or  choral  music  with  correctness 
and  judgment. 

^MO.  Gymnastic  exercises,  adapted  to 
the  age  and  strength  of  the  scholars. 

"  Masters  must  take  pains  to  know  the 
particular  character  and  qualtities  of  each 
pupil,  and  must  give  the  greatest  possible 
attention  to  the  periodical  examinations. 

"  Every  scholar  of  an  elementary  school 
shall,  when  he  leaves  it,  receive  a  certificate 
as  to  his  capacity, and  his  moral  and  religions 
disposition,  signed  by  the  masters  and  the 
school  committee.  These  certificates  shall 
always  be  presented  to  master-manufacturers 


IN  PRUSSIA.  25 

or  artisans  on  being  bound  apprentice,  or  to 
housekeepers  on  entering  service. 

"  The  certificates  shall  not  be  given  to  the 
scholars  till  the  moment  of  their  finally 
quitting  school;  and  in  both  the  burgher 
schools  and  the  gymnasia,  this  shall  always 
give  OTCcasion  to  a  great  solemnity. 

"  In  order  to  impose  no  shackles  on  the 
constant  onward  course  of  improvement,  no 
special  books  shall  be  prescribed  for  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  instruction  in  the  primary 
schools.  They  shall  be  free  to  adopt  the 
best  books  as  they  appear. 

"For  religious  instruction,  which,  in  pro- 
testant  schools,  is  founded  mainly  on  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  the  Bible  and  the  cate- 
chism generally  adopted  shall  be  used.  The 
New  Testament  shall  be  given  to  children 
who  can  read.  The  more  advanced  scholars 
shall  have  the  whole  Bible  in  Luther's 
translation.  This  book  shall  also  be  used 
for  the  religious  instruction  in  all  the  class- 
es of  the  gymnasia,  to  which  shall  be  added 
the  New  Testament  in  Greek. 

"  The  lesson-books  shall  be  carefully  se- 
3 


26  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

lected  by  the  school-committees,  with  the 
concurrence  of  the  higher  authorities,  with- 
out whose  approbation  no  book  can  be  ad- 
mitted. It  is  commended  to  teachers  to  ex- 
amine elementary  works,  and  their  opinion 
is  regarded  in  the  choice  of  such  books. 

"  If  there  is  a  deficiency  of  elementary 
books  in  any  branch  of  learning,  the  minis- 
ter shall  see  that  proper  ones  be  written  or 
compiled. 

"  The  masters  of  the  public  schools  must 
choose  the  methods  best  adapted  to  the  natu- 
ral growth  and  improvement  of  the  human 
mind;  the  methods  which  gradually  and 
constantly  enlarge  the  understandings  of  the 
children,  and  not  such  as  instil  merely  me- 
chanical knowledge. 

"  It  will  be  the  duty  of  the  school  com- 
mittees to  inspect  the  methods  adopted  by 
^he  masters,  and  to  aid  them  with  their  ad- 
vice; they  are  never  to  tolerate  a  bad 
method;  and  they  shall  refer  the  matter  to 
a  higher  authority  if  their  advice  is  disre- 
garded. 

"  Parents  or  guardians  have  a  right  to  in 


IN  PRUSSIA.  27 

quire  into  the  system  of  education  pursued 
in  the  school,  and  into  the  progress  made 
by  their  children.  In  order,  however,  to 
avoid  continual  applications  of  this  sort, 
measures  shall  be  taken  for  giving  a  public 
report  of  the  state  of  the  school  from  time 
to  time. 

"  Parents  may  address  any  complaints  to 
the  higher  authorities  charged  with  the  su- 
perintendence of  schools,  and  these  com- 
plaints must  be  examined  into  with  the 
greatest  care. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  intrust 
their  children  to  a  public  school  are  bound 
not  to  oppose  any  obstacle  to  their  conform- 
ing exactly  to  the  rules  established  in  the 
school.  They  are  bound,  on  the  contrary, 
to  second  the  views  of  the  masters,  to  ful- 
fil all  their  obligations  towards  them,  and  to 
furnish  the  children  with  every  thing  neces- 
sary for  their  studies. 

"  It  is  essential  to  the  general  order  that 
every  pupil  in  every  public  school  should 
be  obliged  to  go  through  the  whole  course 
of  fundamental  instruction  of  the    degree 


28  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

or  stage  to  which  that  school  belongs;  and 
parents  shall  not  be  allowed  to  withhold 
a  pupil  at  pleasure  from  any  branch  of  in- 
struction. Dispensations  from  any  branch 
must  be  asked  of  the  higher  authorities, 
who  will  judge  of  the  validity  of  the  rea- 
sons. 

*^  Every  public  school,  in  as  much  as  it  is 
a  national  institution,  ought  to  afford  the 
greatest  publicity  possible.  Consequently, 
in  every  boy's  school,  besides  the  private 
examinations  on  passing  from  one  class  to 
another,  there  must  be  public  examinations 
calculated  to  show  the  nature  and  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  studies. 

"  Besides  this,  the  director,  (or  chairman) 
of  the  committee,  or  one  of  the  masters, 
shall  give  an  account  of  the  state  and  pro- 
gress of  the  school  in  a  written  report. 
Lastly,  from  time  to  time,  a  general  report 
on  the  state  of  education  in  each  province 
shall  be  published. 

"  Every  establishment  shall  be  at  liberty 
to  choose  the  days  on  which  to  give  the 
public   the  means  of  knowing  the  state  of 


IN  PRUSSIA.  29 

the  school,  by  speeches  or  other  exercises. 
But  the  anniversaries  of  the  most  remarka- 
ble days  in  the  national  history  are  to  be 
selected  in  preference. 

"  As  girls  are  destined  by  nature  for  a 
quiet  and  retired  life,  these  exercises  or 
trials  are  never  to  be  public  in  their  schools. 
The  examination  shall  take  place  only  in 
the  presence  of  the  masters  and  parents. 

*<  But  if,  on  the  one  hand,  is  is  incumbent 
on  those  charged  with  the  conduct  of  the 
public  schools  to  strive  to  accomplish  the 
duties  the  state  imposes  on  them  for  the 
training  of  citizens,  they,  on  their  part, 
have  a  right  to  expect  that  every  one  should 
pay  the  respect  and  gratitude  to  which  they 
are  entitled  as  labourers  in  the  sacred  work 
of  education.  Masters  and  mistresses  ought, 
therefore,  to  be  the  objects  of  the  general 
esteem  due  to  their  laborious  and  honour- 
able function. 

"Institutions  for  the  public  instruction 
have  a  right  to  claim  from  all,  even  those 
who  do  not  send  their  children  to  them,  as- 
sistance and  support  wherever  or  whenever 
3* 


30  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

needed.  All  public  authorities  are  required 
to  protect  the  public  -school,  each  in  his 
sphere  of  action,  and  to  lend  their  aid  to 
schoolmasters  in  the  exercise  of  their  func- 
tions, as  to  any  other  servants  of  the  state. 

«*  In  all  the  parishes  of  the  kingdom,  with- 
out exception,  the  clergymen  of  every 
Christian  communion  shall  seize  every  oc- 
casion, whether  at  church,  or  during  their 
visits  to  schools,  or  in  their  sermons  at  the 
opening  of  classes,  of  reminding  the  schools 
of  their  high  and  holy  missio-n,  and  the 
people  of  their  duties  towards  the  schools. 
The  authorities,  the  clergy,  and  the  masters 
shall  unite  their  efforts  to  strengthen  the 
ties  of  respect  and  attachment  between  the 
people  and  the  school;  so  that  the  people 
may  accustom  themselves,  more  and  more, 
to  regard  educj?.tion  as  one  of  the  essential 
conditions  of  public  life,  and  may  daily  take 
a  deeper  interest  in  its  progress." 

"  The  best  plans  of  instruction  cannot  be 
executed  except  by  the  instrumentality  of 
good  teachers;  and  the  state  has  done  no- 
thing for  popular  education,  if  it  does  not 


IN  PRUSSIA.  31 

watch  that  those  who  devote  themselves  to 
teaching  be  weir  prepared;  then  suitably- 
placed,  encouraged,  and  guided  in  the  duty 
of  continued  self-improvement;  and,  lastly, 
promoted  and  rewarded  in  proportion  to 
their  advancement,  or  punished  according 
to  their  faults. 

"  A  schoolmaster,  to  be  worthy  of  his 
vocation,  should  be  pious,  discreet,  and 
deeply  impressed  with  the  dignity  and 
sacredness  of  his  calling.  He  should  be 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  duties  pecu- 
liar to  the  grade  of  primary  instruction  in 
which  he  desires  to  be  employed ;  he  should 
possess  the  art  of  communicating  knowl- 
edge, with  that  of  moulding  the  minds  of 
children;  conscientious  in  the  duties  of  his 
office,  friendly  and  judicious  in  his  inter- 
course with  the  parents  of  his  pupils,  and 
with  his  fellow-citizens  in  general;  finally, 
he  should  strive  to  inspire  them  with  a 
lively  interest  in  the  school,  and  secure  to  it 
their  favour  and  support.'^ 

Such  is  the  character,  which  the  laws  and 
public  opinion  in  Prussia  demand  in  a  teach- 


32  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

er  of  children  and  youth — a  just  under- 
standing, well  cultivated;  an  upright  and 
benevolent  heart,  disciplined  by  »  wise 
judgment;  amiable  and  prepossessing  man- 
ners; generous  and  enlarged  sympathies; 
and  a  power  oi  intellect  and  a  warmth  of 
feeling  which  act  upon  other  minds,  and 
cause  to  be  comprehended  and  valued  by 
others,  the  truth  he  honours,  and  the  cause 
he  serves.  Let  us  review  for  a  brief  space 
the  circumstances  which  have  led  to  this  es- 
timation of  the  teacher  and  his  office. 

Our  attention  has  been  turned  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages  chiefly  to  the  government  of 
the  Prussian  schools;  their  connection  with 
the  state;  and  the  course  of  instruction  pur- 
sued in  them.  No  such  government  could 
have  any  power,  nor  could  any  such  course 
of  instruction  be  more  than  a  dead  letter,  if 
the  human  instruments  destined  to  carry  the 
whole  into  efiect  did  not  thoroughly  com- 
prehend, and  heartily  concur  in  the  design  of 
the  institution.  If  the  school  inspectors 
should  not  be  enlightened  and  benevolent 
men,  vigilant  in  the   execution  of  a  trust 


IN  PRUSSIA.  33 

which  they  perfectly  understood,  they  could 
not  dh-ect  the  teacher  in  his  duty,  nor  pro- 
tect, encourage,  and  suitably  reward  him  in 
the  performance  of  it.  If  a  system  of  edu- 
cation in  this  country  should  embrace  the 
same  scope  and  design,  it  would  require  for 
its  application  a  superintendence  as  active, 
intelligent,  and  truly  interested  for  the  com- 
mon welfare,  as  the  Prussian  system  presup- 
poses. And  that  enlightened  superintend- 
ency  could  effect  nothing  without  the  entire 
cooperation  of  teachers  perfectly  capable  of 
appreciating  the  value,  and  the  means  of 
the  school  system  in  question.  The  Prus- 
sian law  assumes  this  fact.  No  other  pro- 
fession or  calling  in  life,  is  allowed  to  be 
taken  up  among  us  without  some  prepara- 
tion. When  the  laws  do  not  forbid  it,  con- 
ventional usage  slowly  admits  an  uninstruct- 
ed  person  to  the  exercise  of  a  new  function. 
The  trust  in  his  sufficiency,  which  must 
fall  in  with  every  man's  exertions  in  any 
new  path,  in  order  to  give  power  to  them, 
is  not  readily  accorded  to  an  unpractised 
person.     It  is  to  be  wished  that  the  same 


34  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

restraint  of  opinion  were  applied  to  profes- 
sional teaching. 

Institutions  for  the  training  of  school- 
masters have  been  long  esteemed  in  Ger- 
many to  be  yery  essential  to  the  exercise  of 
that  function.  Schools  for  the  education  of 
schoolmasters  may  be  traced,  according  to 
Cousin,  to  the  beginning  of  the  last  century. 
About  1730,  education  and  the  educator  be- 
came objects  of  general  interest  in  that 
country.  Lectures  on  School  Method  then 
began  to  be  delivered  regularly  and  exten- 
sively in  the  country,  and  special  seminaries 
for  the  benefit  of  those  destined  for  teach- 
ers in  the  classical  or  learned  schools,  grad- 
ually became  attached  to  all  the  principal 
universities.  Before  the  Prussian  law  had 
established  the  present  schools,  a  meritori- 
ous individual,  named  Hecker,  founded  at 
Berlin,  in  174S,  a  nursery  of  popular  in- 
structors, of  which  institution,  Frederic  the 
Great,  an  earnest  promoter  of  this  vital  in- 
terest of  humanity,  became  a  patron,  and 
enjoined  by  royal  ordinance,  that  the  country 
schools  should  be   supplied  with  teachers 


IN  PRUSSIA.  35 

irom  it.  Another  private  establishment 
became  soon  after  a  model-school  for  the 
formation  of  teachers.  The  founder,  who 
wrought,  during  many  years,  for  a  reform 
and  enlargement  of  popular  education,  by 
name  Von  Rochou,  multiplied  these  schools 
on  his  own  estate.  Their  uses  were  fully 
proved,  and,  in  1806,  fourteen  seminaries  for 
instruction  of  teachers,  existed  in  Prussia 
— in  1833  they  were  nearly  quadrupled. 

In  Cousin's  report,  the  schools  for  the  in- 
struction of  teachers  are  called  Normal 
schools.  This  is  the  French  name  for  them. 
The  course  of  study  in  these  schools  lasts 
three  years.  The  probable  wants  of  eve- 
ry district  in  the  department  is  ascertain- 
ed, and  a  certain  per  cent,  of  new  teachers 
is  presumed  to  be  the  annual  demand  for 
them;  and  the  normal  schools  take  so  many 
pupils  and  no  more  than  can  find  employ- 
ment in  the  country.  The  same  normal 
school  trains  masters  for  the  lower  and  high- 
er schools.  Ability  and  knowledge  suited  to 
the  latter  being  based  upon  the  elementary 
principles  illustrated  in  the  former,  youths. 


36  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

who  exhibit  a  decided  talent  and  natural 
aptitude  for  teaching  only,  are  admitted  to 
the  normal  schools,  and  they  enter  them 
from  sixteen  to  eighteen  years  of  age. 

The  pupils  of  the  normal  schools  are  ex- 
pected to  acquire  competent  knowledge  of 
all  that  is  required  to  be  taught  in  the  com- 
mon schools;  and  to  add  to   that  species  of 
information,  just,  enlarged,  and  practical  no- 
tions on  the  art  of  teaching.     The  principal 
aim  of  the  normal  schools  is  to  form  men, 
sound  both  in  body  and   mind,  and  to  im- 
bue the  pupils  with  the  sentiment  of  religion, 
and  with  that  zeal  and  love  for  the  duties  of 
their  station  which  is  truly  allied  to  religion; 
which   aims,  by   patient  continuance  in   a 
right  course  of  exertion,    to   promote  the 
welfare  of  man  in  obedience  to  the  law  of 
God.     The  course  of  instruction  received 
by  the  pupils  of  the  normal  schools  is,  of 
course,  the  same  which  they  are  expected  in 
due  time  to  impart;  and  during  the  last  year 
the  pupils  of  those  schools  are  practised  in 
a  school  of  experiment  which  is  attached  to 
the  normal  school. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  37 

The  instruction  of  these  schools  is  aflford- 
ed  at  a  low  price,  and  the  expense  of 
them  is  chiefly  defrayed  by  government. 
Preparation  for  the  vocation  of  a  teacher  is 
not  limited  to  the  normal  schools,  though 
they  afford  the  approved  labourers  in  this 
good  work;  and  the  standard  of  fitness  which 
is  set  up  in  them,  is  applied  by  law  to  all 
other  preparations  for  the  duty  of  teaching. 
No  normal  school  admits  more  than  sixty  or 
seventy  pupils.  They  are  divided  mto 
larger  and  smaller  schools,  and  also  into 
Protestant  and  Catholic.  Clergymen,  or 
skilful  schoolmasters  may  train  masters  for 
town  or  village  schools,  but  the  masters  so 
trained  come  before  the  authorities  which 
give  license  to  the  pupils  of  normal  schools. 
Females  are  subject  to  a  legal  preparation 
'  for  the  tuition  of  their  own  sex.  Any  man 
of  mature  age,  of  irreproachable  morals, 
and  sincere  piety,  who  understands  the 
duties  he  designs  to  fulfil,  and  gives  satis- 
factory proof  of  his  capability,  is  permitted 
to  exercise  the  office  of  a  teacher,  and  may 
4 


38  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

find  employment  in   the   public   school,  or 
establish  a  private  seminary. 

The  election  and  nomination  of  school- 
masters resides  in  the  committee,  and  in  the 
inspector  of  schools  conjointly.  They 
generally  look  to  the  normal  schools  for 
teachers,  and  never  accept  one  unless  he  is 
recommended  according  to  law.  The  ap- 
pointment is  ratified  by  the  provincial  board, 
and  sometimes  by  the  ministerial  authori- 
ties. Teachers  are  solemnly  installed  in 
their  office,  and  it  is  held  by  those  thus  ap- 
pointed in  the  same  place,  according  to  the 
mutual  satisfaction  of  both  parties.  The 
teacher  is  sometimes  preferred  to  a  more 
lucrative  place  when  experience  of  his 
services  proves  him  to  be  deserving  of  pro- 
motion. 

Incompetent  teachers  are  sometimes  re- 
turned to  the  normal,  school  for  additional 
preparation,  and  are  again  restored  to  their 
occupation,  but  no  inefficient  teaching  and 
discipline  are  overlooked,  or  permitted  in 
the  schools.     It  is  expected  and  desired  that 


IN  PRUSSIA.  39 

the  masters  of  schools  will  be  constantly 
improving  their  own  minds.  Their  office 
is  to  store  the  minds  and  sharpen  the  intel- 
lect of  their  pupils,  to  reason  with  them, 
and  cultivate  their  moral  sentiments — a 
stupid  good  man  can  do  no  such  thing,  but 
one  with  his  faculties  all  alive,  and  furnish- 
ed with  a  multitude  of  ideas,  alone  is  fit  for 
this  service. 

The  directors  of  schools  are  expected  to 
be  the  guides  and  friends  of  the  teachers. 
"  They  shall  especially  attend  to  the  young 
masters,"  says  the  Prussian  law,  "give  them 
advice,  set  them  right,  and  excite  them  to 
aim  at  perfection,  by  attending  to  the  plans 
of  more  experienced  masters,  by  frequent- 
ing their  society,  by  forming  school  con- 
ferences, or  other  meetings  of  schoolmasters, 
and  by  studying  the  best  works  on  educa- 
tion." 

The  provincial  consistory,  that  is,  the 
school  board  or  council,  are  required  "ur- 
gently to  address  themselves  to  the  inspec- 
tors of  schools  to  promote  associations  of 
teachers  in  town  and  country,  for  the  pur- 


40  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

pose  of  keeping  alive  a  sense  of  the  digni- 
ty and  sanctity  of  their  vocation,  of  con- 
tinuing their  own  improvement  by  regular 
meetings,  by  consultations,  conversations, 
practical  essays,  dissertations  on  particular 
branches  of  tuition,  and  by  reading  to- 
gether." 

The  provincial  consistory  may  at  their 
pleasure  recall  masters  highly  susceptible  of 
improvement  from  their  school,  and  place 
them  in  some  educational  establishment, 
there  to  go  through  a  more  complete  course 
of  tuition  both  in  theory  and  practice;  and 
particularly  that  they  make  themselves  ac- 
quainted with  the  latest  improvements  in 
-the  art  of  teaching;  and  also  that  they  may 
effect  a  stricter  union  among  themselves, 
and  establish  a  beneficial  interchange  of 
learning,  experience,  and  opinions. 

"  The  most  eminent  masters,  those  who 
are  to  become  directors  of  normal  schools, 
shall,  with  consent,  and  by  suggestion  of 
government,  be  enabled  from  the  public 
funds  to  seek  by  travels,  both  in  Prussia,  and 
in  other  countries,  more  exact  and  extended 


IN  PRUSSIA.  41 

information  on  the  organisation  of  schools, 
and  their  wants  internal  and  external." 

Clergymen  in  Prussia  are  required  to 
study  both  the  theory  and  practice  of  edu- 
cation, and  become  acquainted  with  the  or- 
ganisation of  the  public  schools,  and  the 
subjects  there  taught.  At  the  time  of  the 
examination  for  the  office  of  a  pastor,  par- 
ticular attention  is  paid  to  the  knowledge 
which  the  candidate  possesses  on  the  sub- 
jects of  education  and  teaching;  and  none 
are  admitted  to  orders  who  do  not  give 
proof  of  the  knowledge  necessary  for  the 
right  management  and  superintendence  of 
schools.  This  is  required  in  order  to  pre- 
serve the  bond  between  the  church  and 
the  school,  so  that  the  duty  of  the  clergy- 
man in  the  school  shall  be  performed  with 
dignity,  gentleness,  and  love;  that  the  clergy 
may  honour  the  respectable  profession  of 
teacher,  in  the  person  of  all  its  members; 
that  they  may  endeavour  to  secure  to  them 
in  their  parishes  the  consideration  which  is 
their  due;  and  always  support  them  with 
vigour  and  firmness. 

4* 


48  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

«  Public  schools  are  the  basis  of  popular 
instruction  in  Prussia.  The  government  of 
that  country  takes  good  care  not  to  leave  to 
chance  or  private  speculation  the  noble  task 
of  the  training  of  youth,  nor  does  primary 
instruction  depend  at  all  upon  private 
schools."  But,  notwithstanding  the  para- 
mount importance  conceded  to  the  public 
institution,  private  establishments  are  per- 
mitted, though  not  without  license,  and 
liability  to  an  inspection  of  the  local  school 
commission,  which  may  inform  the  higher 
authority  of  any  great  defect  or  breach  of 
regularity  in  such  schools,  and  they  may  be 
suppressed  when  it  is  clear  that  they  are  not 
in  accordance  with  the  general  system.  The 
particular  plan  of  tuition,  the  choice  of 
books,  of  methods,  and  discipline  are  left 
entirely  with  the  proprietors  of  the  schools, 
and  they  are  in  fact  benefited  by  the  super- 
intendence they  are  under,  being  commend- 
ed and  encouraged  by  those  who  regard  the 
welfare  and  virtue  of  all  persons,  without 
exclusion  of  any  useful  enterprise,  or  private 
service  to  society. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  43 

Thus  Cousin's  division  of  his  subject  has 
been  followed,  through  the  rules  of  the 
Prussian  system,  the  most  prominent  of 
which  have  been  indicated;  and  it  is  hoped 
that  their  wisdom  commends  them  so  far 
to  those  who  are  now  just  introduced  to  the 
knowledge  of  this  system,  that  they  will 
possess  themselves  of  the  excellent  docu- 
ment which  is  a  full  exposition  of  it,  and 
satisfy  themselves  of  the  great  capability 
of  public  instruction  to  exalt  a  nation,  and 
to  make  any  people  under  its  best  and  com- 
pletest  influences,  "  holy,  happy,  rich" — 
rich,  it  is  meant,  according  to  the  best  sense 
— rich  towards  God — rich  in  good  works 
— rich  in  an  inheritance  that  fadeth  not 
away. 

The  facts  which  illustrate  the  present  ap- 
plications of  the  Prussian  system  remain  to 
be  stated.  "According  to  the  latest  census, 
the  population  of  Prussia  is  12,726,823. 
Out  of  this  population  it  is  computed  that 
the  children  from  seven  *  to  fourteen,  in  at- 

*  The  statute  makes  ^ce  years  the  legal  period  to 
commence  school  attendance — but  usage  does  not  en- 
force the  law  till  the  age  of  seven. 


44  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

tendance  at  these  schools,  is  2,043,030,being 
thirteen  fifteenths  of  all  the  children  of  the 
age  mentioned. 

The  number  of  elementary  schools  in 
1833  was  22,612,  of  the  monarchy,  and 
these  employed  27,749  masters  and  mis- 
tresses. "  We  may  be  certain''  says  Cousin, 
''  that  there  does  not  exist  a  single  human 
being  throughout  that  monarchy  who  does 
not  receive  an  education  sufficient  for  his 
moral  and  intellectual  wants  so  far  as  school 
education  is  sufficient.  This  result,  glori- 
ous and  admirable  as  it  is,  is  an  incontesta- 
ble fact."  This  was  written  with  the  school 
reports  before  his  eyes.  A  respectable 
Prussian  gentleman  *  now  in  this  country, 
told  the  writer  that  such  was  rather  the  aim 
and  tendency  of  the  Prussian  system  of 
education  than  its  positive  result.  Cousin 
himself  states  that  some  of  the  provinces 
are  more  advanced  than  others,  and  that 
"  Berlin  shares  the  fate  of  all  great  cities, 
where  a  thoroughly  exact  control  is  peculi- 

*  Dr.  Julius. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  45 

arly  dilSicult,  and  where  the  law  cannot 
be  rigidly  enforced."  But  in  Saxony  and 
Brandenburg,  "  the  taste  for  instruction  is 
so  generally  diffused  that  parents  anticipate 
the  age  fixed  by  law  for  sending  their  chil- 
dren to  school;"  therefore  in  those  highly 
civilised  provinces,  the  compulsory  law  of 
school-obligation  is  no  compulsion  at  all, 
but  is  regarded  as  a  general  blessing,  as  edu- 
cation is  in  this  country  with  some  excep- 
tions that  might  easily  be  overruled.  There 
is  a  sufficient  number  of  normal  schools  in 
the  kingdom  to  supply  almost  all  the  mas- 
ters of  the  public  schools,  elementary  and  in- 
termediate, so  that  there  is  no  remote  place, 
nor  any  prejudice,  nor  mercenary  exclu- 
sion, nor  local  poverty,  nor  deficiency  of 
superintendence,  nor  lack  of  labourers,  that 
can  leave  human  beings  to  grow  up  in  heath- 
enism and  sin,unpitied  and  untaught- — with- 
out care  of  the  state,  or  beyond  reach  of  the 
ennobling  and  renewing  influences  of  ra- 
tional and  Christian  education. 

The  present  occasion  does  not,  perhaps, 
permit  a  more  ample  representation  of  the 


46  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

rules  and  facts,  which  illustrate  the  Prussian 
system  of  education.  It  only  remains  to 
consider  its  spirit,  and  its  possible  applica- 
tion to  the  American  people.  For  its 
spirit,  what  can  be  more  worthy  of  a  pa- 
ternal government,  what  more  salutary  for 
the  formation  of  national  character,  what 
more  preventive  of  the  deterioration  and 
corruption  to  which  uninstructed  and  unre- 
generate  man  tends? — M.  Cousin  truly  says, 
'  the  whole  fabric  rests  on  the  firm  basis  of 
Christian  love.^^  The  principles  which  en- 
ter into  the  institution  are  strictly  in  accord 
with  the  universality  and  beneficence  of 
Christianity,  and  the  system  has  the  beauti- 
ful character  of  truth  stamped  upon  it. — It 
is  an  experiment  not  a  speculation — it  is 
education  "  actually  given  and  actually  re- 
ceived.'' And  then  how  admirable  are  its 
extensiveness  and  thoroughness. — It  is  not 
the  manna  of  the  seventh  day,  the  pro- 
vision of  emergency,  but  the  bread  of 
every  day — it  is  not  generosity,  it  is  justice 
— it  is  not  a  gift,  but  the  payment  of  a  debt 
— -it  is  not  a  charity  that  celebrates  the  giver, 


IN  PRUSSIA.  47 

but  an  obligation  of  the  parent  state,  to 
the  dependent  child,  and  blesses  alike  him 
that  gives  and  him  that  takes  it.  It  makes 
law  a  magnificent  benefactor  to  all  that  are 
the  organs  and  the  receivers  of  this  great 
bounty,  and  unalienable  blessing,  and  ex- 
cludes from  despotism  itself  every  trait  of 
severity  and  unreasonableness,  of  favour 
and  preference,  of  neglected  mercy,  or  self- 
ish domination. 

But  if  these  schools  only  taught  letters 
and  sciences,  if  they  formed  no  moral  prin- 
ciples and  habits;  if  they  took  no  cogni- 
sance of  the  laws  of  duty;  none  of  the  de- 
fenceless state  of  a  mind  uninformed  of  the 
evil  that  is  in  the  world;  if  they  never 
turned  the  attention  of  the  young  to  the 
Providence  of  God,  and  his  divine  attri- 
butes; if  they  never  connected  the  present 
life  to  the  eternal;  if  they  afforded  no  ex- 
positions of  morality;  if  they  presented  it 
only  in  negations;  if  they  referred  it  exclu- 
sively to  the  Sunday,  the  minister,  the 
church,  the  casual  Sunday-school,  and  the 
self-culture  of  ripe  age — to  whatmere  world- 


48  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION  ' 

liness  and  technicality,  to  what  selfishness 
and  implied  materialism,  to  what  small  ef- 
fects and  low  purposes,  would  they  be  em- 
ployed, and  how  much  would  they  leave 
undone,  which  their  broad  policy,  and  tried 
efforts  actually  accomplish ! 

It  has  been  shown  that  in  the  German 
schools  great  liberty  is  allowed  in  the  use  of 
the  instruments  of  instruction.  Masters  are 
invited  to  progress  and  improvement,  and 
to  the  examination  of  new  elementary 
works,  and  though  they  cannot  adopt  new 
works  without  concurrence  of  the  school- 
commission  that  is  "  free  to  adopt  the  best 
books  as  they  appear;"  and  the  lesson-books 
are  carefully  selected  by  the  committee,  and 
referred,  previous  to  the  adoption  of  them, 
to  higher  authorities — but  cheapness,  or 
any  inferior  consideration,  does  not  hinder 
these  several  authorities  in  their  preference 
of  what  is  absolutely  best,  for  it  is  their 
principle  to  "  choose  the  methods  best 
adapted  to  the  growth  of  the  human  mind; 
the  methods  which  generally  and  constantly 
enlarge  the  understanding,  of  the  children, 


IN  PKUSSIA.  49 

and  not  such  as  instil  merely  mechanical 
knowledge."  Under  the  influence  of  such 
principles,  the  teachers  seek  for  the  best 
books,  they  look  confidently  to  the  assistance 
of  the  committee  for  procuring  them,  and  the 
latter  may  calculate  upon  the  judgment 
of  the  higher  commission  for  approbation  of 
their  judgment.  In  this  sense,  co-operation  is 
power;  the  judgment  of  all  parties  concerned 
is  mutually  helpful  in  procuring  the  best  in- 
struments of  instruction.  Concurrence  of 
this  sort  is  much  wanted  in  this  country, 
for  the  regulation  of  school  books,  and  is 
particularly  desirable  to  intelligent  persons 
employed  in  the  preparation  of  juvenile 
books.  At  present  the  most  philosophical 
mind  can  engage  in  such  works,  with  small 
hope  of  success;  the  interests  of  booksel- 
lers, and  of  old  copy-rights  are  formidable 
impediments  to  the  dissemination  of  improv- 
ed school  books.  School  books  are  account- 
ed of  immense  value  in  Germany,  and  the 
German  school  books  are  essentially  differ- 
ent from  ours.  Mr.  Bulwer,  addressing 
himself  to  Dr.  Chalmers,  says,  "While 
5 


50  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

we  [the  English]  have  so  many  schools  or- 
ganised, and  so  little  is  taught  in  them,  just 
let  me  lead  your  attention  to  the  four  com- 
mon class  books,  used  in  all  the  popular 
schools  of  Saxe  Weimar;"  and  then  he  de- 
scribes the  books  which  are  so  infinitely 
more  instructive  than  our  multifarious 
books  of  extracts.  Adaptation — Connection 
— Progress,  are  the  principles  upon  which 
they  are  formed.  Morality  and  religion, 
not  sectarian  in  the  least,  but  the  truths 
acknowledged  in  all  religions,  the  laws  of 
the  external  world,  and  of  the  human  con- 
stitution, enter  into  their  plan.  The  cul- 
ture of  all  the  faculties,  the  conscience, , 
affections,  reason,  and  imagination,  is  at- 
tempted in  a  certain  measure,  that  is,  the 
measure  of  probable  and  possible  develope- 
ment;  and  they  are  perfectly  intelligible  to 
young  minds  of  ordinary  power.  Such 
books  are  an  invaluable  help  to  a  rational 
and  faithful  teacher.  Of  the  German  books, 
Mr.  B.  says,  "  such  is  the  foundation 
of  the  lofty,  united,  and  intellectual  spirit 
which   distinguishes   the  subjects  of  Saxe 


IN  PRUSSIA.  51 

Weimar,"  and,  we  might  add,  not  of  Saxe 
Weimar  alone,  but  of  every  community 
put  under  the  influence  of  this  peculiar 
mode  of  culture. 

Can  the  Prussian  mode  of  education  be 
applied  to  this  country?  It  is  difficult  to 
give  answer  to  this  question.  It  has  been 
adopted  in  France,  by  recommendation  of 
Cousin,  a  man  whose  name  stands  first  as  a 
benefactor  of  nations  in  this  age,  but  not 
without  national  modification;  and  Cousin 
believed  that  after  ten  years  of  experiment  it 
would  require  new  adaptations  to  the  French 
people.  We  may  not  be  able  to  adopt  its 
whole  economy,  it  may  not  be  desirable  to 
us.  At  any  rate,  as  teachers  of  the  young,  we, 
who  are  here  assembled,  can  only  follow  its 
suggestions,  for  it  requires  the  word  of  legisla- 
tion to  order  its  operation,  and  it  requires  the 
public  suffrage  to  receive  it.  In  Germany, 
Francke  and  Von  Rochou  showed  the  im- 
portance and  practicableness  of  improved 
schools  by  forming  schools  for  teachers  at 
their  own  expense;  A  very  able  writer, 
Basedow,  urged  upon  the  public  mind  new 


52  PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION 

methods,  and  constructed,  also,  at  his  own 
expense,  new  school  books,  and  illustrations 
of  the  sciences;  and  a  sovereign  prince 
aided  their  enterprises.  And  this  for  the 
special  advantage  of  a  people  ready  for  the 
reception  of  the  benefit,  but  which  it  has 
taken  nearly  a  century  to  impart  fully  to 
them.  We  are,  it  is  true,  in  a  different 
state  already  much  advanced  in  the  use  of 
science  and  letters,  and  feeling  the  import- 
ance of  them  to  our  whole  nation,and  to 
posterity;  and,  we  are,  severally,  and  sepa- 
rately, as  trustees  of  schools,  or  principals 
of  them,  allowed  much  liberty  in  our  func- 
tion. We  are,  in  a  great  measure,  able  to  en- 
large its  uses,  exalt  its  influence,  and  choose 
its  instruments. 

Before  education  in  this  country  can  pro- 
duce its  best  fruits  it  must  be  reformed. 
This  is  not  said  to  depreciate  what  is  good, 
but  to  increase  that  which  is  good,  and  cor- 
rect whatever  is  imperfect  in  our  practice. 
In  New  England  generally  all  the  people 
can  read,  but  all  over  the  country  there  is  a 
vast  misapplication  and  deficiency  of  means 


IN  PRUSSIA.  53 

which  might  turn  education  to  better  ac- 
count. In  some  parts  of  the  country,  out 
of  New  England,  multitudes  are  growing 
up  in  total  ignorance,  and  almost  every 
where,  the  common  schools  are  far  below 
what  they  ought  to  be.  No  compulsory 
law  is  necessary  in  any  part  of  the  United 
States,  for  inducing  the  people  to  send  child- 
ren to  good  schools;  but  in  all  parts  the 
schools  would  derive  much  of  their  efficacy 
from  the  inspection  and  regulation  of  an 
enlightened  and  vigilant  public  authority. 
When  once  the  legal  managers  of  schools 
shall  become  acquainted  with  the  means  of 
affording  education  of  tlie  best  quality  to  the 
people,  and  shall  make  it  appear  that  they 
endeavour  to  procure  it  for  them,  parents 
will  feel  perfect  confidence  in  the  public  in- 
stitutions, and  private  ones  will  emulate 
their  excellence.  In  the  present  state  of  our 
popular  education  those  who  can  possibly 
procure  it,  obtain  other  and  casual  instruc- 
tion for  their  children,  of  necessity,  much 
inferior  to  that  which  the  collective  means 
of  any  community,  wisely  and  faithfully  ap- 


54  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

propriated,  might  afford  to  all  the  children, 
provided  they  were  assorted  in  a  natural 
classification,  and  instructed  according  to 
their  different  stages  of  progress,  by  judici- 
ous persons,  with  suitable,  varied,  and  pro- 
gressive books  in  their  power.  At  present 
a  large  portion  of  the  children,  withdrawn 
by  pride  or  principle,  from  the  popular 
schools,  receive  a  substituted  instruction,  of 
which  no  enlightened  cognisance  is  taken, 
and  they  are  at  the  mercy  of  speculators; 
whilst  those  who  must  rely  upon  the  public 
institution  often  suffer  from  it;  as  the  dises- 
teem  in  which  it  is  held  serves  to  depreciate 
it;  and  the  numbers  withdrawn,  which 
might  countenance  and  illustrate  a  good 
system,  are  so  many  supports  removed. 

Schoolmasters  worthily  educated,  ade- 
quately paid,  and  encouraged,  and  assisted 
by  intelligent  and  faithful  supervisors, 
would  effect  great  improvements  in  society. 
The  qualifications  and  suitable  education  of 
schoolmasters  must  depend  upon  what  they 
are  expected  to  teach,  and  how  they  are  re- 
garded in  society,  as  well  as  how  they  are 


IN  PRUSSIA.  55 

paid.  It  has  been  shown  how  much  dignity 
the  German  system  attaches  to  the  profession, 
and  how  it  is  cherished  and  guarded.  Ac- 
knowledged want  of  good  teachers,  and  pro- 
per respect  paid  to  their  wants  and  their  hap- 
piness, will  create  a  supply  of  them.  It  may 
be  objected,  that  such  education  as  the  pro- 
jectors of  improved  systems  demand  for  the 
people,  cannot  be  paid  for.  Every  thing  else 
is  paid  for,  according  to  its  quality.  All 
functions  of  government  and  magistracy; 
all  military  defences,  and  penal  inflictions 
are  paid  for.  Some  of  these  would  cost 
less,  and  some  would  fall  into  disuse,  if 
knowledge  cost  more.  But  if  no  more 
should  be  paid,  than  is  now  paid  for  educa- 
tion, if  persons  were  thoroughly  taught 
how  to  teach,  and  what  to  teich,  they  would 
teach  well  as  cheaply  as  they  now  teach  ill, 
and  they  would  be  as  well  satisfied  as  they 
now  are.  Of  the  useful  and  contented 
teachers  of  the  humblest  cottagers  of  the 
poorest  villages  in  Germany,  Mrs.  Austin, 
says—"  if  ever  poverty  appeared  on  earth, 
serene,  contented,  lofty,  beneficent,  grace- 


56  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

ful,  it  is  here.  Here  we  see  men,  in  the 
very  spring  time  of  life,  so  far  from  being 
made,  as  we  are  told  that  man  must  be  made; 
restless,  and  envious,  and  discontented  by  in- 
struction, taking  indigence  and  obscurity  to 
their  hearts  for  life;  raised  above  their  poor 
neighbours  in  education,  only  that  they  may 
become  the  servants  of  all,  and  may  train 
the  lowliest  children  in  a  sense  of  the  dignity 
of  man,  and  the  beauty  of  creation,  in  the 
love  of  God,  and  of  virtue.'^  Who  will 
say  that  the  function  of  a  teacher  is  not 
a  holy  and  a  high  vocation,  and  that  he  is 
not  a  minister  of  God  for  good? 

Who  shall  afford  a  standard  to  teachers, 
and  a  method  of  attainment?  Teachers 
are  not  likely  to  do  it.  Each  for  the  most 
part  practises  under  circumstances  of  too 
much  restraint  and  obscurity,  to  enable  him 
to  set  up  any  very  superior  methods  or 
means  of  teaching,  or  to  give  them  wide 
efficiency.  Lyceum  members,  and  those 
who  can  address  the  public  through  the 
press — Patrons  and  trustees  of  schools, 
have  a  better  opportunity  to  inform  the  pub- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  57 

lie  entensively  on  this  subject,  and  by  their 
influence,  to  establish  schools  for  teachers;  to 
patronise  good  works  designed  for  the  use 
of  the  young;  to  expose  all  imposture  and 
unfaithfulness  in  teaching,  and  all  lifeless 
mechanism;  in  short,  to  strengthen  the  hands 
and  encourage  the  hearts  of  upright  and  en- 
lightened teachers  of  both  sexes,  and  to  re- 
ject and  exclude  all  others;  and  thus  to  form 
the  coming  age  to  a  higher  moral  intelli- 
gence, and  superior  character  than  this,  our 
day,  assumes. 

That  part  of  the  Prussian  system  of  edu- 
cation most  imitable  by  us  is  the  adoption  of 
rational  school  books.  The  teaching  to 
read  arid  the  practice  of  the  art  of  reading, 
when  acquired,  is  a  great  opportunity  to  in- 
culcate useful  truth.  So  persuaded  are  the 
Germans  that  the  sense  of  words,  whenever 
presented  to  children  as  the  means  of  infor- 
mation, should  be  perfectly  clear  to  them, 
that  they  do  not  give  them  a  written  copy 
to  imitate;  which  has  not  obvious  and  appli- 
cable meaning,  nor  a  book  to  read  which 
does   not  thoroughly  explain  itself;  nor  a 


58  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

lesson  that  is  not  appropriate  to  their 
real  circumstances,  or  their  probable  devel- 
opement.  They  condescend  to  the  young 
mind,  and  yet  are  in  advance  of  it.  They 
address  curiosity  and  all  the  faculties  at  pro- 
per times,  and  intersperse  all  narrative  and 
all  reasoning  with  interrogations  that  exer- 
cise the  moral  and  rational  judgment  con- 
tinually. 

The  books  which  can  do  this  are  not 
fragments  of  men's  books,  cut  up  for  the  use 
of  children,  they  are  not  oratory  detached 
from  history,  poetry,  from  criticism,  and 
parts  of  sermons,  or  unprofitable  fictions, 
"  These  are,''  says  a  recent  writer  *  in 
high  and  deserved  estimation,  "  indications 
of  a  revolution  in  the  system  of  education, 
which  will  probably  lead  to  great  and  bene- 
ficial results,"  and  he  predicts  that  this 
revolution  will  consist  of  the  adoption  of 
what  may  be  considered  rational  means, 
among  which  he  regards  books  as  the  chief, 

# 

*  Jonathan  Dymond.  Essays  on  the  principles  of 
Morality. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  59 

"Children"  says  he,  "will  learn  to  read 
well  when  the  books  are  delighful,"  that  is, 
when  they  interest,  excite,  inform,  and 
satisfy  the  young  reader.  "  We  complain," 
he  proceeds,  "  of  the  aversion  of  the  young 
to  learning,  and  the  young  complain  of 
their  weariness  and  disgust.  It  is  in  a  great 
degree  our  own  fault.  Knowledge  is  ac- 
ceptable to  the  human  mind,  but  we  may, 
if  we  please,  select  such  kinds  of  knowledge 
and  such  modes  of  imparting  it,  as  shall  be, 
not  agreeable  but  repulsive."  This  truth  is 
more  apparent  than  the  revolution  which 
Mr.  Dymond  thought  he  foresaw  ten  years 
ago.  The  practice,  which  disregards  the 
more  needful  and  acceptable  sort  of  instruc- 
tion, and  perseveres  in  preferring  the  less 
attractive  and  valuable,  is  continued.  We 
have  multitudes  of  new  school  books,  it  is 
true  and  they  supplant  old  ones,  but  in  what 
do  the  new  differ  from  the  old  ones?  They 
are  all  "judicious  selections"  so  called.  But 
in  them  the  thing  that  hath  been  is  ^jLp 
thing  that  shall  be,  under  another  form,  as 
little  edifying  as  ever.     The  more  recent 


60  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

books,  like  their  predecessors,  are  scraps  of 
extracts,  almost  wholly  unfit  for  the  young 
of  both  sexes,  and  especially  so  to  females. 
Instead  of  principles  and  expositions,  the 
former  drawn  from  facts,  and  the  latter  illus- 
trated with  skill  and  amplification,  new 
school  books  contain  more  moral  essays, 
more  fugitive  poetry,  and  more  parliamen- 
tary speeches.  We  have  Channing  in  place 
of  Blair,  Hemans  rather  than  Pope,  and 
Webster  in  preference  to  Pitt;  and  nearly 
the  same  quantity  of  warlike  odes,  and  the 
same  laudation  of  misnamed  heroes,  and 
martial  enterprises,  as  those  who  take  no 
cognisance  of  the  Christian  law  of  love. 
What  better  fruits  can  grow  out  of  this 
change  of  books.'' 

The  greatest  men  that  ever  lived  have 
been  in  favour  of  adapted  and  moral  culture. 
Socrates  loved  the  young,  and  all  his  hope 
of  human  improvement  in  the  guilty  age, 
in  which  he  lived,  w^as  from  them,  and  by 
m-eans  of  enlightening  their  eyes  daily. 
Milton,  who,  great  as  he  was,  "  the  lowli- 
est duties  on  himself  did  lay,"  trusted  only 


IN  PRUSSIA,  61 

to  adapted  instruction  to  penetrate  the 
young  with  all  good  influences.  John 
Locke,  a  philosopher  as  well  known  for  his 
excellent  common  sense  as  his  deep  think- 
ing, earnestly  counselled  instructors  of  the 
young  to  follow  a  natural  method,  and  to 
furnish  the  understanding  according  to  its 
wants  and  its  relish.  "  What  pleasure  or 
advantage,"  says,  Mr.  Locke,  "  can  it  be  to 
a  child  to  exercise  himself  in  reading  those 
parts  of  a  book  of  which  he  understands 
nothing."  What  boy  understands  Gray's 
Elegy,  or  Hamlet's  soliloquy,  or  Satan's 
address  to  the  Sun;  or  what  does  it  profit  a 
girl  to  read  Lochiel's  warning,  or  Lord 
Lyttleton's  Dialogue  between  Locke  and 
Bayle?  We  might  multiply  authorities 
against  such  practices,  particularly  Miss 
Edge  worth,  and  Dr.  Spurzheim;  but  we 
forbear,  except  to  trespass  a  few  minutes 
longer  on  your  patience.  We  will  conclude 
these  suggestions  by  a  short  extract  from 
Dr.  Spurzheim's  work  on  Education. 

There  should  be,  says  Spurzheim,  schools 
for  infants,  children,  and  youth,  where  posi- 
6 


62  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

five  notions  of  things,  [accurate  ideas] 
their  uses,  and  the  means  of  self-improve* 
rnent  are  communicated.  I  hope,  he  con- 
tinues, that  the  time  will  come,  when  every 
one  will  learn  to  read,  write,  and  cipher, 
in  the  same  institution,  and  by  the  same 
authority,  where  morality  shall  be  shown  in 
action,  and  imposed  as  a  duty,  and  where 
mutual  civility  and  refinement  of  manners 
will  be  inculcated.  I  hope  that  places  of 
instruction  will  furnish  abundance  of  ideas, 
which  the  learner  will  learn  the  art  of  com- 
municating to  others,  and  that  the  knowl- 
edge thus  acquired  will  extend  through 
every  stage  of  life,  and  every  class  of  soci- 
ety, and  that  this  knowledge  will  be  practi- 
cal, from  the  most  common  notions  of 
household  affairs  and  agriculture  to  the 
deeper  conceptions  of  art  and  the  principles 
of  science.  I  hope  also  that  the  time  will 
come  when  nothing  shall  be  taught  in  the 
school  merely  for  the  school,  but  every 
thing  in  reference  to  the  uses  of  future  life. 
When  religious  sentiments  will  be  cultivat- 
ed in  every  one,  not  in  words  merely,  but 


IN  PRUSSIA.  63 

in  deeds;  not  in  superstitious  formalities,  but 
in  harmony  with  reason  and  charity;  and 
that  in  the  school  the  young  will  learn  every 
public  and  private  virtue,  and  become  quali- 
fied to  value,  to  enjoy,  and  maintain  religious 
and  civil  liberty,  as  well  as  to  raise  the  stand- 
ard of  true  wisdom,  and  augment  the  gene^ 
ral  amount  of  personal  and  domestic  happi- 
ness, in  the  world.  These  are  rather  the 
suggestions,  than  the  exact  words,  of  Dr. 
Spurzheim,  but  they  express  perfectly  the 
true  ends  of  instruction,  and  they  are  hap" 
py,  who,  hearing  them,  shall  imbibe  their 
spirit  and  accomplish  their  ends. 


NORMAL  SCHOOLS 


PRUSSIA, 


One  of  the  most  judicious,  elegant,  and 
convincing  articles,  ever  written  on  the  sub- 
ject of  public  instruction,  is  Mrs.  Austin's 
preface  to  the  Report  of  Cousin.  Her 
mind  perfectly  apprehends  the  universal 
features  of  this  beautiful  system.  She  sees 
that  of  knowledge,  all  cannot  provide  for 
all,  and  that  the  mind  that  feels  the  want, 
cannot  procure  the  supply.  She  knows 
that  the  wise  must  have  pity  upon  the  igno- 
rant, and  them  that  are  out  of  the  way ,  and 
that  they  must  enlighten  the  blind,  and 
raise  the  low.  She  believes,  also  that  nation- 
al virtue  is  obtained  and  cherished  by 
general  intelligence,  that  neither  grow  spon- 


66  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

taneously,  but  are  a  result  of  the  care  and 
beneficence   of  the   most   enlightened   and 
disinterested  spirits  of  a  country.     To  such 
minds  all  that  she  says  is  properly  addressed. 
She  believes  that  such  exist  in  the  stations  of 
middle  life,  and  she  writes   to  just  think- 
ers, and  to  those  who  are  perfectly  sincere, 
in  morals,  whoever  they  are,  and  wherever 
they  may  be,  and  can   exert  any  influence 
to  those  truly  desirous  to  dispel  error  and 
enlarge  the  limits  of  truth  and  right  reason, 
to  those  who  would  extend  and  secure  the 
happiness  of  a  people,  who  can  alone  become 
zealous  of  good  works  through  information 
of  immutable  principles  of  right  and  wrong. 
Mrs.  Austin  believes  that  in  England  a 
great  fault  is  committed  in  the  offering  of 
selfish  motives,  of  false  ambition,  to  young 
persons;  we  wish  that  we  in  America  were 
free  from  this  error.     The  selfish  principle 
in  human  hearts  is  strong  enough  in  itself, 
without  being  commended  and  praised  as  a 
salutary  incentive   to    intellectual    labour. 
Truth,  for  its  own  sake,  wisdom,  because  its 
ways  are  pleasantness  j  benevolence,  because 


IN  PRUSSIA.  67 

it  gives  and  gains  the  greatest  good;  a  feel- 
ing of  brotherly  kindness  and   of   public 
spirit,  are  the  influences  which  that  admira- 
ble writer  commends  to  be  infused  into  the 
preceptive  and  practical  parts  of   popular 
education.     In  this  country,  in  entire  oppo- 
sition to  this   liberal  and    safe  course,  the 
visiters  of  schools  often  address  the  most 
selfish    and  deceptive  motives  to   boys,  as 
inducements  to  diligence  and  perseverance. 
^'  You   have  heard,"  sometimes   say  these 
counsellors,  "  of  the  wise  Franklin  who  be- 
came one  of  the  chief  men  of  this  nation; 
a  minister  from  our  government  to  Europe, 
who  lived  and  died,  honoured  and  admired 
by  all  who  knew  or  heard  of  him.     This 
man   was   a   mechanic— a  printer;    but  by 
means  of  his  industry,  and  fidelity  in  what- 
ever he  undertook,  by  the  information  of 
all  kinds  with  which  he  stored  his  mind, 
he    rose   to    this   extraordinary   eminence 
among  his  fellow  citizens.     You  have  heard 
also  of  the  good   Roger  Sherman,  of  Con- 
necticut;  of  his  independence  and  honesty; 
his  excellent  understanding  and  judgment. 


\ 


68  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

He  was  bred  a  shoemaker.  But  he  was 
not  destined  to  spend  his  days  at  the  last. 
His  superior  mind,  and  correct  notions  of 
politics,  obtained  for  him  the  honour  to  aid 
in  the  public  councils;  to  attain  to  many- 
dignified  places;  to  stand  high  in  the  esteem 
of  the  greatest  men  in  the  land.  These  exam- 
ples are  set  before  you  that  you  may  do  like- 
wise; that  you  may  be  as  well  informed  and 
as  faithful  as  these  honourable  persons,  and 
that  you  may  secure  to  yourselves  equal  ad- 
vantages. And  if  you  should  resemble  these 
great  men,  what  is  to  hinder  you  from  be- 
ing diS  fortunate  as  they  were;  as  much  dis- 
tinguished? How  many  of  the  richest  men 
in  this  country ;  the  greatest  merchants  and 
lawyers  in  it,  have  been  poor  hoys!  There 
is  nothing  to  prevent  you  from  following 
their  examples,  and  attaining  to  their  good 
fortune.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  you  will  not 
forget  this  truth,  that  you  will  not  neglect 
your  opportunities,  and  come  short  of  their 
success  in  the  world.''  Such  is  esteemed 
by  many  to  be  a  very  sensible  lecture. 
Now  it  must  occur  to  every  sound  mind 


IN  PRUSSIA.  69 

that  this  is  false  in  principle.  If  all  the 
printers  in  Franklin's  time,  or  one  tenth 
of  them,  had  resembled  him  in  all  points  of 
sufficiency  for  public  duties;  and  if  all  the 
shoemakers,  or  any  number  of  them,  in 
Connecticut,  had  been  as  wise  as  Mr.  Sher- 
man, there  was  but  one  mission  for  the 
printers,  and  one  seat  in  congress  for  the 
shoemakers.  And  though  the  merit  of  all 
had  been  exactly  the  same,  the  reward  of 
that  merit,  did  it  really  consist  in  power  or 
place,  could  not  possibly  be  accorded  to  all. 
Printing  is  more  in  request  than  diplomacy, 
and  shoes  are  more  needed  than  legislation, 
that  is,  a  certain  sort  of  want  is  more  gene- 
rally felt  and  acl^nowledged,  more  imperi- 
ous in  its  demands,  than  another  class  of 
wants  in  the  community.  A  very  few  per- 
sons indeed,  relatively  to  the  whole,  can 
supply  the  rarer  want;  and  a  very  large 
number  are  absolutely  necessary  to  supply 
the  daily,  physical,  and  outward  need  of  so- 
ciety. The  common  provisions  of  educa- 
tion, and  the  common  chance  of  success  in 
life,  must  be  for  the  latter  chiefly  in  their 


70  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

original  vocation.  So  few  are  the  high  places 
of  earth;  and  young  persons  are  so  quick- 
sighted  in  perceiving  "  that  which  is  set  on 
a  hill;"  and  so  very  ready  of  their  own  ac- 
cord to  explore  the  upward  path,  how  hard 
soever  to  climb,  that  it  is  more  just,  and 
more  judicious,  to  set  before  children  ra- 
tional and  probable  views  of  future  life  than 
the  stimulants  of  a  vain  and  deceitful  ambi- 
tion; ambition,  which  often  makes  them 
self-seekmg,  encroaching,  and  vain-glorious 
prematurely,  and  too  often  leaves  them  in 
the  end  without  any  moral  correction  in  the 
mind,  a  prey  to  the  bitterest  disappoint- 
ment. 

This  truth  is  set  forth  with  convincing 
power  by  the  translator  of  Cousin.  "  It 
seems  to  me,"  says  Mrs.  Austin,  "  that  we 
are  guilty  of  great  inconsistency  as  to  the 
ends  and  objects  of  education.  How  in- 
dustriously have  not  its  most  able  and  most 
zealous  champions  been  continually  instil- 
ling into  the  minds  of  the  people  that  educa- 
tion is  the  way  to  advancement,  that  ^knowl- 
edge is  power,'  that  a  man  cannot  <  better 


IN  PRUSSIA.  71 

himself  without  some  learning!    And  then 
we  complain,  that  education  will  set  them 
above    their    station,   disgust    them    with 
labour,    make    them    ambitious,    envious, 
dissatisfied!      We  must  reap  as   we  sow. 
We  set  before  their  eyes  objects  the  most 
tempting  to  the   desires  of  the   most  un- 
cultivated men,  we  urge   them   on  to  the 
acquirement   of  knowledge  by  holding  out 
the  hope  that  knowledge  will  enable  them 
to  grasp  these  objects:    if  their  minds  are 
corrupted  by  the  nature  of  the  aim,  and  im- 
bittered  by  the  failure  which  must  be  the 
lot  of  the  mass,  who  is  to  blame? 
"If,instead  of  nurturing  expectations  which 
cannot  be  fulfilled,  and  turning  the  mind  on 
a  track  which  must  lead  to  a  sense  of  con- 
tinual disappointment,  and  thence  of  wrong, 
we  were  to  hold  out  the  appropriate  and  at- 
tainable, nay,  unfailing  ends  of  a  good  edu- 
cation; the  gentle  and  kindly  sympathies; 
the  sense  of  self-respect,  and  of  the  respect 
of  fellow  men;  the  free  exercise  of  the  in- 
tellectual  faculties;   the   gratification   of  a 
curiosity  that '  grows  by  what  it  feeds  on,' 


72  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

and  yet  finds  food  for  ever;  the  power  of  reg- 
ulating the  habits  and  the  business  of  life,  so 
as  to  extract  the  greatest  possible  portion  of 
comfort  out  of  small  means;  'he  refining  and 
tranquillising  enjoyment  of  the  beautiful  in 
nature  and  art,  and  the  kindred  perception 
of  the  beauty  and  nobility  of  virtue;  the 
strengthening  consciousness  of  duty  fulfill- 
ed; and,  to  crown  all,  '  the  peace  that  pass- 
eth  all  understanding;'  if  we  directed  their 
aspirations  this  way,  it  is  probable  that  we 
should  not  have  to  complain  of  being  disap- 
pointed, nor  thei/  of  being  deceived.  Who 
can  say  that  wealth  can  purchase  better 
things  than  these?  and  who  can  say  that 
they  are  not  within  the  reach  of  every  man 
of  sound  body  and  mind,  who,  by  labour 
not  destructive  of  either,  can  procure  for 
himself  and  his  family,  food,  clothing,  and 
habitation." 

The  design  of  all  popular  education  is 
not  to  raise  up  extraordinary  individuals, 
but  to  exalt  the  nation,  to  elevate  whole 
classes  of  people.  Not  to  make  the  Ameri- 
can people  or  any  particular  nation,  superi- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  73 

or  to  other  people  in  physical  resources  and 
power,  but  to  develope  the  whole  faculties 
of  the  human  being  and  of  aggregate  man; 
to  multiply  his  defences  against  evil,  and 
his  capabilities  of  enjoyment;  to  afibrd  to 
every  man  security  and  enjoyment  of  what 
belongs  to  himself  individually,  and  to  pro- 
mote among  all  men  mutual  and  safe  confi- 
dence in  their  fellow  men;  to  enlarge  the 
commerce  of  good  offices,  and  multiply  the 
interchanges  of  thought  and  affection  in  hu- 
man society;  and  this  must  be  done  with 
some  regard  to  the  structure  of  civilised 
society. 

All  men  are  moral  beings;  all  have  the 
same  rules  of  right  and  wrong  to  apply  to 
their  own  circumstances.  The  circum- 
stances of  different  classes  of  men  however 
are,  and  must  be,  different.  There  ought  to 
be  extra  provisions  for  extraordinary  means 
to  obtain,  and  extraordinary  capacity  to 
profit  by,  but  there  should  be  besides  in 
very  well  regulated  state,  one  ample  insti- 
tution for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  people, 
superior  to  all  private  and  selfish  dealings, 
7 


74  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

in  the  sale  and  barter  of  knowledge.     This 
should  supply  what  is  wanting,  correct  what 
is  wrong,  and  prevent  what  might  else  be 
depraving,  in  private  and  casual  education. 
Such  an  institution  Prussia  has  established 
for  all  her  children,  and  it  is  tending  to  pro- 
duce its  natural  effects.     Such  an  institution 
France  has  imitated  from  this  great  nation- 
al experiment.     Time,  the  demonstrator  of 
all  true  politics,  and  of  all  human  projects, 
well  or  ill  devised,  will  show  with  how  much 
eflBcacy  in  improving  the  morals  and  man- 
ners of  her  people.     Could  this  institution 
fully   accomplish  its  proposed  ends,  what 
wise  legislator  would  refuse  to  urge  similar 
provisions  for  the  public  virtue  and  happi- 
ness upon  any  community  now  destitute  of 
them. 

The  direct  instruments  of  this  system  of 
education  are,  first  of  all,  qualified  teachers. 
How  these  are  disciplined  and  prepared  for 
their  function  will  be  most  correctly  shown 
in  the  representation  of  Cousin,  who  has  de- 
scribed, in  a  very  interesting  manner,  some 
of  the  institutions  which  exist  in  Prussia  for 
the  education  of  schoolmasters. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  75 

One  of  the  most  important  features  of 
the  normal  school  is  the  function  of  its  head 
or  director.  "  It  is  the  constant  practice  of 
the  ministry  in  Prussia, — to  be  scrupulous 
to  the  last  degree  in  the  choice  of  a  director, 
and  then  to  leave  him  great  latitude  at  the 
beginning,  with  reservation  to  the  minister 
to  judge  of  the  whole  by  the  results,  and 
to  interpose  his  authority  after  full  knowl- 
edge of  facts." 

Extract  Jrom  the  Instructions  for  the  Di- 
rector of  the  Primary  Normal  School 
of  Potsdam. 

"  These  instructions,  which  prescribe  the 
duties  of  the  director,  are  rather  calculated 
to  suggest  the  point  of  view  under  which  he 
ought  to  regard  his  office,  than  to  define  his 
functions  and  occupations  with  precision. 
These  may  undergo  various  modifications 
from  unforeseen  circumstances;  and  the  di- 
rector of  an  establishment  ought  not  to  ad* 
here  to  the  literal  meaning  of  official  rules, 
but  to  be  guided  by  more  large  and  elevated 
conceptions,  and  wherever  the  law  is  silent, 


76  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

to  supply  the  deficiency  from  his  own  in- 
telligence. 

"'All  that  a  rational  and  a  pious  father  of 
a  family  is  to  his  household,  the  director 
ought  to  be  to  the  whole  establishment  and 
to  each  of  its  members;  the  kind  friend  and 
colleague  of  all  the  pupils  and  masters  who 
are  animated  with  a  true  feeling  of  their 
duties;  on  the  other  hand,  the  severe  and 
inflexible  ruler  of  those  who  refuse  to 
listen  to  the  voice  of  reason  and  of  reli- 
gion. 

"  He  ought  to  pay  attention  to  the  smallest 
things  as  well  as  to  the  greatest,  that  no- 
thing may  trouble  the  harmony  of  the  en- 
tire machine  committed  to  his  watchful 
guidance. 

He  is  bound  especially — 
"1.  To  manage  the  pecuniary  aflairs  of  the 
establishment. 

"  2.  To  superintend  the  domestic  economy 
and  the  steward;  to  have  an  eye  to  the  li- 
brary and  to  all  the  instruments,  &c.  neces- 
sary for  the  school; 

"  3.  To  preserve  and  add  to  these,  and  to 


"  IN  PRUSSIA.  77 

give  an  account  of  the  funds  appropriated 
to  the  purchase  of  books,  &c.;  ' 

"  4.  To  carry  on  the  correspondence,  to 
make  the  report  to  the  school-board  on  the 
normal  school  and  the  school  attached  to  it; 
to  send  in  a  list  of  candidates  for  admission, 
to  keep  the  archives,  &c.; 

"  5.  To  call  up,  examine,  and  choose  the 
candidates  for  admission,  with  the  advice  of 
the  masters; 

"6.  To  draw  out  and  present  plans  of 
study,  after  having  referred  them  to  the  con- 
ference of  schoolmasters,  and  to  distribute 
and  arrange  the  subjects  of  instruction,  ae>- 
cording  to  the  plan  approved  by  the  com- 
petent authorities; 

"  7.  To  overlook  and  direct  the  maste^^, 
both  in  their  moral  conduct  and  their  func- 
tions; 

*^  To  organise  and  direct  the  schoolmas^ 
ters'  conferences,  and  to  draw  up  prospec- 
tuses for  them; 

"  9.  To  fix  and  direct  the  public  exami- 
nations of  the  normal  school  and  the  school 
attached; 

7* 


78  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

"  10.  To  maintain  the  high  discipline  of 
the  normal  school,  and  of  the  school  attach- 
ed by  all  possible  means,  even  to  the  ex- 
pulsion of  a  student,  after  the  decision  of 
the  conference  of  masters;  subject,  however, 
to  the  obligation  of  making  an  immediate 
and  circumstantial  report  to  the  competent 
authorities. 

<«  It  is  impossible  more  completely  to  jus- 
tify the  confidence  of  the  ministry  than 
Mr.  Striez,  the  director  of  the  Potsdam 
School  has  done.  From  year  to  year  the 
normal  school  confided  to  his  care  has  made 
extraordinary  progress,  and  in  1826  he  laid 
before  the  public  an  account  of  it,  which  ex- 
cited the  liveliest  interest.  This  account  I 
place  before  you;  it  will  give  you  an  accu- 
rate and  complete  idea  of  the  material  and 
moral  condition — of  the  whole  internal 
life — of  one  of  the  best  primary  normal 
schools  of  Prussia. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  79 

Report  of  the  Primary  Normal  School 
at  Potsdam,  by  F.  L.  G.  Striez,  Direc- 
tor of  this  School  and  Minister  of  the 
Gospel. 

HISTORICAL  STATEMENT, 

"Until  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
there  were  no  primary  normal  schools  in 
Brandenburg.  The  schoolmasters  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  parishes,  either  with  the  ap- 
probation of  the  authorities  or  without  their 
knowledge,  and  were  all  drawn  from  the 
primary  schools  then  established.  All  that 
was  required  of  these  masters,  who  were 
chiefly  mechanics,  was  to  be  able  to  read, 
say  the  catechism,  sing  tolerably  a  few  well- 
known  psalm-tunes,  and  to  write  and  cipher 
a  little.  Numbers  of  shepherds,  employed 
in  summer-time  in  keeping  sheep,  during 
winter  assumed  the  office  of  teachers  of 
youth.  The  nobility  used  generally  to  be- 
stow the  place  of  schoolmaster  (if  it  was  at 
their  disposal,)  on  their  valets  or  grooms,  as 
a  reward  for  past  services.  The  primary 
schools  in  towns  sometimes  had  masters  a 


80  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

little  better  informed,  but  even  they  had 
neither  good  taste  nor  method  in  their  man- 
ner of  teaching. 

"  Johann  Julius  Hecker,  chief  councillor 
of  the  consistory  at  Berlin,  and  minister  of 
Trinity  church,  was  the  first  who  under- 
took to  train  young  men  for  the  art  of  teach- 
ing. With  this  view  he  founded  a  school 
to  supply  masters  for  his  own  diocese. 

^'  This  establishment,  founded  in  1748,  re- 
mained for  some  time  a  private  one;  in  the 
year  1753,  it  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  a 
royal  primary  normal  school  for  schoolmas- 
ters and  parish-clerks.  The  provincial  au- 
thorities were  enjoined,  in  a  Cabinet  order 
published  the  1st  of  October,  1753,  to  se- 
lect, as  far  as  possible,  the  members  of  this 
establishment  for  the  royal  places  of  parish- 
clerk  and  schoolmaster. 

"  But  this  primary  normal  school  was  still 
far  from  meeting  the  constantly  increasing 
wants  of  the  province,  and  little  merited 
the  name  of  a  royal  school.  The  pupils, 
scattered  in  all  parts  of  the  capital,  were 
not  properly  watched  nor  directed  in  their 


IN  PRUSSIA.  81 

studies.  Being  all  mechanics,  they  labour- 
ed at  their  trades  rather  than  their  studies, 
and  were  besides  exposed  to  the  influence  of 
the  corporation  spirit,  *  and  to  the  seduc- 
tions of  a  great  town.  In  fact,  the  time 
which  they  devoted  to  their  studies  at  the 
normal  school  was  in  general  too  short  to 
afford  any  hope  of  effecting  the  end  pro- 
posed. 

"In  1771,  Frederick  the  Great  appropri- 
ated 4000  crowns,  interest  upon  a  capital  of 
100,000  crowns,  to  the  improvement  of  the 
country  schools  in  the  Electoral  March;  he 
used  on  this  occasion  the  following  expres- 
sions: ^Primary  education,  especially  in 
the  country,  has  been  hitherto  much  neg- 
lected; it  becomes  imperative  to  remove  the 
bad  masters,  and  replace  them  by  compe- 
tent men.^  Understanding  that  the  schools 
were  better  organised  in  Saxony,  he  order- 
ed that  masters  should  be   drawn   thence. 


*  In  Germany  the  members  of  each  trade,  till  very 
recently  composed  a  Zunft, — guild,  or  corporation. — 
Tra.nsl. 


82  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

and  put  in  the  place  of  those  whom  it 
might  have  seemed  fit  to  remove,  in  spite 
of  their  being  dependents  on  the  crown  or 
on  the  nobles.  An  increase  of  salary  was 
to  be  allowed  to  the  new  masters,  from  the 
special  fund  lately  created;  and  the  individ- 
uals most  distinguished  among  them  to  be 
held  out  to  the  primary  normal  school  as 
models  for  masters  in  training. 

But  the  benevolent  intention  of  the  king 
could  not  be  entirely  realised;  either  the 
persons  intrusted  with  its  execution  were 
negligent,  or  they  found  it  difficult  to  draw 
skilful  masters  from  Saxony.  To  obviate 
this  inconvenience,  it  was  determined  to 
place  in  the  schools  which  were  susceptible 
of  reform,  theological  candidates,  who 
should  fill  the   office  of  masters. 

^*  This  arrangement  not  answering  the 
purpose,  some  lesser  normal  schools,  indeed, 
sprang  up  insensibly  at  Berlin;  but  either 
they  were  not  of  long  continuance,  or 
they  remained  unimportant;  or  else  they 
had  no  other  view  than  to  form  masters  for 
Berlin  and  the  neighbouring  towns  of  an 
inferior  order." 


IN  PRUSSIA.  83 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when,  in 
1S09,  the  regency  of  Potsdam,  the  ecclsei- 
astical  authorities,  and  the  school-deputation 
began  to  give  a  new  direction  to  the  system 
hitherto  followed  in  primary  instruction. 

Nothing  was  more  strongly  felt  than  the 
want  of  good  masters.  Exact  information 
was  eagerly  sought  as  to  the  condition  of 
the  primary  normal  school  at  Berlin,  and  in 
1810,  great  improvements  were  effected  in 
this  establishment.  Upon  their  success  de- 
pended, in  part,  whether  this  school  should 
be  continued  and  remain  at  Berlin,  or 
whether  it  should  be  transferred  to  another 
place.  Now,  on  experiment,  the  measures 
adopted  appeared  inapplicable  to  the  estab- 
lishment at  Berlin,  and  the  primary  normal 
school  of  Berlin  was  superseded  by  that  of 
Potsdam. 

PRESENT    ORGANISATION    OF    THE    NORMAL 
SCHOOL. 

1.  Direction  and  Inspection. 
The  normal  school  and  its  annexed  school 
are   placed   under  a   director  or  principal, 
subordinate  to  the  royal  school-board  of  the 


84  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

province  of  Brandenburg  at  Berlin,  and  to 
the  minister  of  public  instruction. 

The  last-named  authority  lays  down  the 
principles  to  be  followed  in  this  school,  as 
in  all  other  public  schools;  exacts  an  ac- 
count of  all  important  matters,  such  as  the 
nomination  of  the  masters,  and  any  change 
in  the  fundamental  plan  of  the  studies;  and 
receives  every  year,  through  the  medium 
of  the  royal  school-board,  a  detailed  report, 
prepared  by  the  director  of  the  school. 

The  school-board  is  charged  with  the  spe- 
cial inspection  of  the  normal  school:  it 
must  watch  its  progress,  and  from  time  to 
time  send  commissioners  to  make  inquiries 
on  the  spot.  It  examines  also  and  approves 
the  plan  of  studies. 

2.  Building. 

The  normal  school,  situated  near  the  ca- 
nal and  the  Berlin  gate,  is  a  large  edifice  two 
stories  high,  with  a  frontage  of  127  feet, 
and  considerable  back-buildings,  which, 
joined  to  the  main  building,  form  a  square 
within  which  is  a  tolerably  spacious  court. 
The  whole  comprehends: 


IN  PRUSSIA.  85 

"  1.  A  family  residence  Tor  the  director 
or  principal,  and  another  for  a  master; 

"  2.  Three  apartments  for  three  unmarri- 
ed masters; 

"  3.  An  apartment  for  the  steward  and 
his  servants,  and  sufficient  convenience  for 
household  business  and  stowage ; 

"  4.  A  dining-room  for  the  pupils,  which 
serve  also  for  the  writing  and  drawing 
class; 

"  5.  An  organ-room,  in  which  the  music- 
lessons  are  given,  the  examinations  take 
place,  and  the  morning  and  evening  prayers 
are  said; 

"  6.  Two  rooms  for  the  scientific  instruc- 
tion of  the  pupils; 

"  7.  Four  rooms  for  the  classes  of  the  an- 
nexed school; 

"8.  Five  rooms  of  different  sizes,  and 
two  dormitories  for  the  pupils; 

"  9.  Two  infirmaries; 
"10.  Awash-house; 
"11.  Two  cabinets  of  natural  history; 
"  12.  Granaries,  cellars,  wood-houses,  &c. 
8 


86  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

3.  Revenues, 


Are  afforded  by  state  funds,  by  fees  from 
pupils,  and  from  children  at  the  primary 
school — which  serve  to  pay — 

"  1.  The  salaries  of  the  masters; 

"  2.  The  household  expenses; 

"  3.  The  materials  for  instruction  for 
the  normal  school  and  the  school  annexed; 

^'4.  The  garden-ground; 

"  5.  The  heating  and  lighting; 

"  6.  The  repairs  of  the  building,  furni- 
ture and  utensils,  the  insurance,  taxes  and 
expenses  of  the  house,  &c.; 

"  7.  The  maintenance  of  the  pupils. 

"  8.  The  physician  and  surgeon. 

4.  Inventory. 

"  The  establishment  contains  the  follow- 
ing articles; 

'*  1.  Things  required  in  the  economy  of 
the  house,  kitchen-utensils,  tables,  forms, 
&c.  ; 

"  2.  Sufficient  and  suitable  furniture,  con- 
sisting of  chests  of  drawers,  tables,  forms, 
chairs  and  boxes,  for  the  class  of  the  nor- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  87 

mal  school,  and  the  school  for  practice,  and 
for  the  masters'  rooms,  &:c.  There  is  also, 
for  the  poor  pupils,  a  certain  number  of 
bedsteads  with  bedding; 

"  3.  A  considerable  library  for  the  mas- 
ters and  pupils,  as  well  as  a  good  collection 
of  maps  and  globes  for  the  teaching  of  ge- 
ography; 

"  4.  A  tolerably  complete  collection  of 
philosophical  instruments; 

"  5.  A  collection  of  minerals. 

"  6.  A  collection  of  stuffed  birds,  and 
other  objects  in  natural  history; 

"  7.  The  instruments  most  required  in 
mathematical  instruction; 

"  8.  Complete  drawing  apparatus; 

"  9.  A  very  considerable  collection  of 
music; 

"  10.  A  very  good  organ,  a  piano-forte, 
seven  harpsichords,  and  many  wind  and 
string  instruments, 

5.  Domestic  Economy  and  Maintenance 
of  the  Pupils. 

"  To  support  about  eighty  pupils,  and  to 


88  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

preserve  cleanliness  in  the  house,  a  steward 
has  been  appointed,  whose  duties  are  speci- 
fied in  a  contract  renewable  every  year. 

"  The  food  of  the  pupils  is  good  and 
wholesome,  which  is  proved  by  the  state  of 
their  health.  Some  parents  think  it  need- 
ful to  send  their  children  eatables,  or  money 
to  purchase  them.  They  are  wrong,  for  the 
children  have  no  such  want;  on  the  con- 
trary, so  far  from  being  advantageous,  these 
presents  only  serve  to  take  away  their  ap- 
petite at  meals,  and  to  make  them  dainty  and 
gluttonous.  The  orphans  and  those  whose 
parents  are  too  poor  to  send  them  any  thing, 
are  exactly  those  who  are  the  strongest  and 
healthiest. 

"  The  director  is  almost  always  present 
at  meals,  to  be  sure  of  the  goodness  of  the 
food,  and  to  prevent  any  irregularity  in  the 
serving  up. 

"  Sick  pupils  are  sent  to  the  infirmary, 
and  are  attended  by  the  physician  or  sur- 
geon of  the  establishment. 

6.  Mast 67^8. 
"  All  the  masters  belong  exclusively  to 


IN  PRUSSIA.  89 

the  establishment,  in  which  also  they  live. 
Each  of  them  with  the  exception  of 
the  principal,  (whose  number  varies  from 
twelve  to  sixteen,)  gives  from  twenty-four 
to  twenty  seven  lessons  a  week. 

"  The  number  of  lessons  being  so  great, 
one  of  the  cleverest  pupils  trained  in  the 
house  is  employed  as  assistant  master,  so  that 
the  number  of  masters  in  fact  amounts  to 
six. 

7.  Number  of  Pupils. 

"  The  number  of  the  pupils  is  fixed  by  the 
regulation  at  from  75  to  80,  and  is  now  78,* 
of  whom  72  live  in  the  establishment;  the 
other  six  have  obtained  a  license  to  remain 
with  their  parents  in  order  to  lessen  the  ex- 
pense of  their  maintenance. 

"  This  number  is  determined  not  only  by 
the  building,  but  also  by  the  wants  of  the 
province.  The  number  of  pupils  to  be  ad- 
mitted is  very  easily  determined.  It  de- 
pends on  the  average  number  of  new 
masters  required  in  a  year  by  the  depart- 
*  1831. 
8* 


90  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

merit.  This  principle  is  fundamental.  It 
is  absurd  to  gather  together  at  random  a 
crowd  of  students  who  have  no  security  for 
obtaining  employment. 

S.   What  is  required  of  *B.pplicants  for 
Admission. 

"  Once  a  year,  26  pupils  are  admitted. 
Of  these  are  required — 

"  1.  Good  health  and  freedom  from 
all  bodily  infirmity.  (Obstacles  to  admis- 
sion would  be,  exceeding  smallness  of 
stature,  short-sightedness,  or  a  delicate 
chest;) 

"  2.  The  age  of  17  complete; 

"  3.  The  evangelical  religion; 

"  4.  A  moral  and  religious  spirit,  and  a 
conduct  hitherto  blameless; 

"  5.  A  good  disposition  and  talents, 
amongst  which  are  a  good  voice  and  a  musi- 
cal ear; 

"  To  be  prepared  for  the  studies  of  the 
normal  school  by  the  culture  of  the  heart 
and  mind:  to  have  received  a  good  religious 
education  (which  shall  include  a  knowledge 


IN  PRUSSIA.  91 

of  the  Bible  and  biblical  history;)  to  be  able 
to  read;  to  know  the  grammar  of  the  Ger- 
man language,  of  composition,  arithmetic, 
the  principles  of  music. 

"A  written  request  for  admission  must 
be  sent  to  the  director,  by  June  at  the  latest, 
accompanied  with — 

"  1.  A  certificate  of  birth  and  baptism; 

"  The  director  enters  the  petitioners  on  a 
list,  and  in  the  month  of  June  or  July  in- 
vites them,  by  letter,  to  present  themselves 
at  the  examination  which  takes  place  in  July 
or  August. 

"  The  examination  is  conducted  partly  in 
writing,  and  partly  viva  voce. 

"  As  a  means  of  ascertaining  the  acquire- 
ments of  the  candidates,  and  of  judging  of 
their  memory,  their  style,  and  their  moral 
dispositions,  an  anecdote  or  parable  is  relat- 
ed in  a  clear  and  detailed  manner,  summing 
up  and  repeating  the  principal  points,  after 
which  they  produce  it  in  writing,  with  ob- 
servations and  reflections. 

The    oral   examination  usually  includes 


92  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

only  religion,  reading,  grammar,  logical  ex- 
ercises, and  arithmetic. 

They  are  also  examined  in  music. 

"  After  the  examination,  the  talents  and 
merits  of  the  respective  candidates  are  con- 
scientiously weighed  and  compared,  in  a 
conference  of  the  masters.  The  choice  be- 
ing made,  it  is  submitted  to  the  sanction  of 
the  royal  school-board,  with  a  detailed  re- 
port of  the  result  of  the  examination. 

At  the  end  of  some  weeks  the  candidates 
are  informed  of  the  decision;  their  admis- 
sion is  announced,  or  the  reason  which  pre- 
vented it  stated;  with  either  advice  to  give 
up  their  project  entirely,  or  suggestions  rela-. 
tive  to  their  further  preparation. 

"The  admitted  candidate  is  bound  to 
bring,  besides  his  clothes  and  books, 
amongst  which  must  be  the  Bible  and  the 
prayer-book  used  in  the  establishment,  half- 
a  dozen  shirts,  six  pairs  of  stockings,  a  knife 
and  fork,  and,  generally,  a  bedstead  with  all 
requisite  bedding. 

"  He  is  also  bound  to  sign,  on  his  en- 
trance an  engagement  to  the  director,  with 


IN  PRUSSIA.  93 

the  consent  of  his  father  or  guardian,  to  ob- 
serve the  rules  of  the  institution,  to  hold  his 
future  services  at  the  disposal  of  govern- 
ment, or  to  refund  all  expenses  incurred  on 
his  account. 

"  The  normal  school  is  by  no  means  de- 
signed for  those  who  are  unfit  for  any  busi- 
ness, and  think,  if  they  can  read  and  write, 
they  are  capable  of  becoming  schoolmasters. 
This  notion  is  so  deeply  rooted,  that  you 
hear  fathers  declare  with  all  the  simplicity 
in  the  world — ^  My  son  is  too  delicate  to 
learn  a  business,'  or  '  I  don't  know  what 
to  make  of  my  son,  but  I  think  of  getting 
him  into  the  normal  school.'  We  reply  to 
such,  that  the  pupils  of  the  normal  school 
must,  on  the  contrary,  be  sound  both  in 
body  and  mind,  and  able  to  brave  the  toils 
and  troubles  of  a  career  as  laborious  as  it  is 
honourable. 

^'  Much  neglect  unfortunately  still  exists 
on  a  subject  which  is  of  the  highest  import- 
ance— the  methodical  preparation  of  these 
young  men  for  the  calling  which  it  is  desir- 
ed they  should  embrace. 

"  A  false  direction  is  often  given  to  their 


94  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

preliminary  studies.  A  young  man  is  be- 
lieved to  be  well  prepared  for  the  normal 
school,  if  he  have  passed  the  limits  of  ele- 
mentary instruction;  and  if  he  have  acquir- 
ed a  greater  mass  of  knowledge  than  other 
pupils.  It  frequently  happens,  however,  that 
candidates  who  come  strongly  recommend- 
ed from  school,  pass  the  examination  with- 
out credit,  or  are  even  rejected. 

*'  The  most  immediate  and  the  most  im- 
portant aim  of  all  instruction,  is  to  train  up 
and  complete  the  Man;  to  ennoble  his  heart 
and  character;  to  awaken  the  energies  of  his 
soul,  and  to  render  him  not  only  disposed, 
but  able,  to  fulfil  his  duties.  In  this  view 
alone  can  knowledge  and  talents  profit  a 
man;  otherwise,  instruction,  w^orking  upon 
sterile  memory  and  talents  purely  me- 
chanical, can  be  of  no  high  utility.  In  or- 
der that  the  teacher,  and  particularly  the 
master  of  the  primary  school,  may  make 
his  pupils  virtuous  and  enlightened  men,  it 
is  necessary  he  should  be  so  himself.  Thus, 
that  the  education  of  a  normal  school,  es- 
sentially practical,  may  completely  succeed, 
the  young  candidate  must  possess  nobleness 


IN  PRUSSIA.  95 

and  purity  of  character  in  the  highest  possi- 
ble degree,  the  love  of  the  True  and  Beau- 
tiful, an  active  and  penetrating  mind,  the 
utmost  precision  and  clearness  in  narration 
and  style. 

"  Such  above  all  things  are  the  qualities 
we  require  of  young  men.  If  they  have 
reached  this  state  of  moral  and  intellectual 
advancement  by  the  study  of  history,  geo- 
graphy, mathematics,  &c.,and  if  they  have 
acquired  additional  knowledge  on  these  vari- 
ous branches,  we  cannot  but  give  them  ap- 
plause; but,  we  frankly  repeat,  we  dispense 
with  all  these  acquirements,  provided  they 
possess  that  formal  instruction  of  which 
we  have  just  spoken,  since  it  is  very  easy 
for  them  to  obtain  in  the  normal  school  that 
material  instruction  in  which  they  are 
deficient. 

«  It  is  nevertheless  necessary  to  have  some 
preliminary  notions,  seeing  that  the  courses 
at  the  normal  school  are  often  a  continuation 
of  foregone  studies,  and  that  certain  branch- 
es could  not  be  there  treated  in  their  whole 
extent,  if  they  were  wholly  unknown  to 
the  young  men  when  they  entered.     We 


96  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

have  already  mentioned  the  branches  they 
should  be  most  particularly  prepared  in;  but 
this  subject  being  of  the  greatest  interest, 
we  shall  conclude  this  chapter  with  some 
suggestions  on  the  plan  to  be  followed. 

"1.  Religion.  To  awaken  and  fortify  the 
religious  spirit  and  the  moral  sentiments. 
For  this  purpose  the  histories  and  parables 
of  the  Bible  are  very  useful.  Frequent 
reading  and  accurate  explanation  of  the  Bi- 
ble are  necessary. 

'^  As  to  general  history,  there  is  no  need 
of  its  being  circumtsantially  or  profoundly 
known,  but  the  young  men  should  be  able 
to  refer  with  exactness  to  those  historical 
facts  which  may  be  profitably  used  to  form 
the  heart,  to  exercise  and  rectify  the  judg- 
ment, to  infuse  a  taste  for  all  that  is  grand 
and  noble,  true  and  beautiful," 

It  appears  here,  that  mere  chronological 
tables  and  books  or  abstracts  do  not  satisfy 
the  German  notion  of  learning  history. 
The  philosophy  of  history,  its  moral  spirit, 
is  communicated  in  the  very  first  lessons  to 
the  humblest  minds.  A  brief  list  of  some 
of  their  elementary  works  follows: 


IN  PRUSSIA.  97 

*«1.  Examples  oj  Virtue,  2,  collection 
of  noble  deeds  and  characteristic  traits  from 
universal  history,  &c.,  3  vols. 

"  2.  School  of  Wisdom  and  Virtue. 

"  3.  Logical  Exercises.  These  ought  to 
tend  to  produce  in  young  minds  clearness 
and  accuracy  of  ideas,  justness  of  judgment, 
and,  by  consequence,  precision  and  facility 
in  oral  and  written  explanations. 

"4.  Exercises  for  learning  to  think 
in  a  m,ethodical  and  natural  m,anner.^^ 

These  are  a  few  of  the  books  used  in  the 
normal  schools.  Their  very  titles  express 
that  they  aim  by  direct  means  to  sow  the 
good  seed  of  moral  truth  in  the  juvenile 
mind.  It  is  intended  to  furnish  in  another 
place  some  further  notice  of  the  general 
character  of  the  books  used  in  the  Prussian 
schools. 

"  5.  Reading.  When  once  the  pupil  can 
read  fluently,  he  must  be  taught  to  give  em- 
phasis to  his  reading,  and  to  feel  what  he 
reads.  He  should  be  habituated  to  recite, 
and  even  gradually  to  analyze  the  phrases 
and  periods  he  has  just  read,  to  change  the 
9 


98  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

order,  and  express  the  same  idea  in  differ- 
ent words — to  put,  for  example,  poetry  into 
prose,  &c.  Thus  these  exercises  serve  at 
the  same  time  to  teach  him  to  think,  and 
to  speak.  We  advise  also  that  he  be  made 
to  declaim  pieces  he  has  learnt  by  heart. 

"  6.  Arithmetic,  This  does  not  include 
either  methods  of  abstruse  calculation  or 
practical  arithmetic.  Nothing  more  is  re- 
quired of  the  pupil  than  to  use  figures  with- 
out difficulty,  and  to  calculate  in  his  head. 

"  All  the  pupils  are  bound  to  pursue  the 
course  of  the  normal  school  for  three  years; 
their  acquirements  and  instruction  would  be 
incomplete  if  they  did  not  conform  to  this 
regulation. 

9.  Education  of  the  Pupils  by  means  of 
Discipline  and  of  Instruction. 

"  This  important  subject  is  of  far  too  great 
extent  for  us  to  attempt  to  exhaust  it  here. 
We  shall  take  a  future  opportunity  of  entfer- 
teringuponit,and  show  how  all  the  branch- 
es of  instruction  are  treated  in  the  normal 
school.*  At  present  we  shall  content  our- 
»  Page  105. 


I 


IN  PRUSSIA.  99 

selves  with  the  mention  of  the  principles 
which  regulate  the  instruction  and  general 
discipline. 

"  In  the  education  of  the  masters  of  pri- 
mary schools  the  wants  of  the. people  must 
be  consulted. 

"  We  have  abundant  proof  that  the  well- 
being  of  an  individual,  like  that  of  a  peo- 
ple, is  no  wise  secured  by  extraordinary  in- 
tellectual powers  or  very  refined  civilisation. 
The  true  happiness  of  an  individual,  as  of 
a  people,  is  founded  on  strict  morality,  self- 
government,  humility,  and  moderation;  on 
the  willing  performance  of  all  duties  to 
God,  and  his  neighbours. 

"  A  religious  and  moral  education  is  con- 
sequently the  first  want  of  a  people.  With- 
out this,  every  other  education  is  not  only 
without  real  utility,  but  in  some  respects 
dangerous.  If,  on  the  contrary,  religious 
education  has  taken  firm  root,  intellectual 
education  will  have  complete  success,  and 
ought  on  no  account  to  be  withheld  from  the 
people,  since  God  has  endowed  them  with 
all  the  faculties  for  acquiring  it  and  since 


100  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

the  cultivation  of  all  the  powers  of  man 
secures  to  him  the  means  of  reaching  per- 
fection, and,  through  that,  supreme  happi- 
ness. 

"  Religious  and  moral  instruction,  far  from 
leading  to  presumption  and  a  disputatious 
spirit,  on  the  contrary,  produces  in  man  a 
consciousness  of  his  weakness,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  humility.  The  object  then 
should  be,  to  give  the  people  solid  and  prac- 
tical knowledge,  suited  to  their  wants,  which 
will  naturally  refine  and  soften  their  habits 
and  manners. 

"  If  such  be  the  instruction  the  people 
ought  to  receive,  that  of  the  masters  of  the 
primary  schools  is  at  once  determined,  and 
the  principles  to  be  followed  in  the  instruc- 
tion of  our  pupils  are  equally  clear. 

"  A  more  definite  direction  is  given  to  re- 
ligious and  moral  instruction  by  belief  in 
the  revealed  word  of  God  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  But  this  belief  must  not  be 
simply  historical,  as  amongst  the  learned. 
It  ought  rather  so  to  penetrate  the  heart  of 
man  as  to  produce  a  constant  endeavour  to 


IN  PRUSSIA.  101 

have  his  thoughts,  sentiments,  and  actions, 
in  strictest  harmony  with  the  word  of  God. 
It  is,  then,  on  the  living  conviction  of  the 
truths  and  doctrines  of  Christianity,  that 
we  base  the  religious  and  moral  character 
of  our  pupils.  Enemies  to  all  needless 
constraint,  we  allow  the  young  men  all  the 
liberty  compatible  with  our  responsibility, 
with  our  duty  of  guarding  them  from  every 
seduction,  and  with  the  internal  order  of 
the  establishment.  We  are  indulgent  to 
faults  which  arise  not  from  bad  disposition, 
but  we  punish  unkindness  and  rudeness 
even  in  look  and  gesture. 

"Our  principal  aim,  in  each  kind  of  in- 
struction, is  to  induce  the  young  men  to 
think  and  judge  for  themselves.  We  are 
opposed  to  all  mechanical  study  and  servile 
transcripts.  The  masters  of  our  primary 
schools  must  possess  intelligence  themselves, 
in  order  to  be  able  to  awaken  it  in  their  pu- 
pils; otherwise,  the  state  would  doubtless 
prefer  the  less  expensive  schools  of  Bell  and 
Lancaster. 

"  We  always  begin  with  the  elements, 


102  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

because  we  are  compelled  to  admit  pupils 
whose  studies  have  been  neglected;  and  be- 
cause we  wish  to  organise  the  instruction  in 
every  branch,  so  as  to  afford  the  pupils  a 
model  and  guide  in  the  lessons  which  they 
will  one  day  be  called  upon  to  give. 

"  With  respect  to  material  instruction, 
we  regard  much  more  the  solidity,  than  the 
extent,  of  the  acquirements.  This  not  only 
accords  with  the  intentions  of  the  higher 
authorities,  but  reason  itself  declares  that 
solidity  of  knowledge  alone  can  enable  a 
master  to  teach  with  efficacy,  and  carry 
forward  his  own  studies  with  success. 

''Practical  instruction  we  consider  of 
the  greatest  importance. 

''  All  the  studies  and  all  the  knowledge 
of  our  pupils  would  be  fruitless,  and  the 
normal  school  would  not  fulfil  the  design  of 
its  institution,  if  the  young  teachers  were  to 
quit  the  establishment  without  having  alrea- 
dy methodically  applied  what  they  had 
learned,  and  without  knowing  by  experi- 
ence what  they  have  to  do,  and  how  to  set 
about  it. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  103 

"  To  obtain  this  result,  it  is  not  sufficient 
that  the  young  men  should  see  the  course 
gone  through  under  skilful  masters,  or  that 
they  should  themselves  occasionally  give 
lessons  to  their  school-fellows;  they  must 
have  taught  the  children  in  the  annexed 
school  for  a  long  time,  under  the  direction 
of  the  masters  of  the  normal  school.  It  is 
only  by  the  familiarising  themselves  with 
the  plan  of  instruction  for  each  particular 
branch,  and  by  teaching  each  for  a  certain 
time  themselves,  that  they  can  acquire  the 
habit  of  treating  it  with  method." 

*Rnnexed  School. 
"The  annexed  school  was  founded  in  1825, 
and  rece  ivs  gratuitously  from  160  to  170 
boys.  The  higher  authorities,  in  granting 
considerable  funds  for  the  establishment  of 
this  school,  have  been  especially  impelled 
by  the  benevolent  desire  of  securing  to  the 
great  mass  of  the  poor  children  in  this 
town*  the  means  of  instruction,  and  of  re- 
lieving the  town  from  the  charge  of  their 
ed  ucation. 

*  Potsdam. 


104  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

"  The  town-authorities  agreed  on  their 
part,  to  pay  one  thaler  and  five  silber-gros- 
chen  (3*.  6d.)  a  year  for  each  child.  On 
this  condition  we  supply  the  children  gra- 
tuitously with  the  books,  slates,  &c.,  which 
they  want. 

**  The  annexed  school  is  a  primary  school, 
which  is  divided  into  four  classes,  but  rec- 
kons only  three  degrees  :  the  second  and 
third  classes  are  separated  from  each  other 
only  for  the  good  of  the  pupils,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  affording  more  practice  to  the 
young  masters. 

"  The  first  class  with  the  two  above  it, 
forms  a  good  and  complete  elementary 
school;  while  the  highest  presents  a  class  of 
a  burgher  school,  where  the  most  advanced 
pupils  of  the  normal  school,  who  will  pro- 
bably be  one  day  employed  in  the  town 
schools,  give  instruction  to  the  cleverest 
boys  of  the  annexed  school. 

"  Here  is  a  table  of  what  is  taught  in  this 
school. 


IN  PRUSSIA. 


105 


The  two 

SUBJECTS  TAUGHT. 

Lowest 

middle 

Highest 

class. 

classes. 

class. 

Lessons. 

Lessons. 

Lessons. 

1.  Religion       .     .     .     - 

4 

4 

3 

2.  Reading        .     .    .    . 

6 

6 

2 

3.  The  German  language 

6 

4 

4 

4.  Arithmetic        -     -     - 

3 

4 

4 

5.  Geometry  and  drawing 

2 

2 

2 

6.  Writing        .     .     .     . 

3 

3 

4 

7.  Singing         -     -     -     . 

2 

3 

3 

8.  Mathematics     -     -     - 

— 

— 

2 

9.  Geography        -     -     - 

— 

— 

2 

10.  Natural  History     -    - 

— 

— 

2 

11.  History        .    .    .    . 
No.  lessons  in  the  week 

— 

— 

2 

26 

26 

30 

"We  shall  add  a  few  remarks  on  this 
plan. 

"1.  In  the  two  middle  classes,  the  most 
common  sorts  of  knowledge  are  taught,  to- 
gether with  reading. 

'*2.  The  lessons  in  language  consist,  in 
the  lower  class,  of  logical  exercises  and  an- 
ecdotes; and,  in  the  middle  classes,  of  ex- 
ercises in  language  and  grammar. 

"  The  master  of  the  normal  school,  who 
has  prepared  the  young  masters  beforehand 
is  present  during  the  lesson  given  by  them 
in  the  school  of  experiment.     He  listens. 


106  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

observes,  and  guides  them  during  the  lessons, 
and  afterwards  communicates  his  observa- 
tions and  his  opinion  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  lesson  was  given. 

"  It  is  requisite  that  every  pupil  of  the 
normal  school  should  teach  all  the  branches 
in  the  lowest  class  in  succession;  for  the 
master  of  a  primary  school,  however  learn- 
ed he  may  be,  is  ignorant  of  the  most  indis- 
pensable part  of  his  calling,  if  he  cannot 
teach  the  elements. 

10.  Departure  from  the  Normal  School; 

Examinations;  Certificates  and  Ap- 
pointments. 

"  The  pupils  quit  the  normal  school  after 
having  pursued  the  course  for  three  years; 
for  the  lengthening  of  their  stay  would  be 
an  obstacle  to  the  reception  of  new  pupils. 

"  But  they  must  first  go  through  an  ex- 
amination in  writing  and  viva  voce,  of 
which  we  give  an  abstract. 

^'  1.  All  the  pupils  of  the  primary  nor- 
mal schools  shall  go  through  an  examination 
on  leaving. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  107 

"  2.  The  examination  shall  be  conducted  by- 
all  the  masters  of  the  normal  school,  on  all 
the  subjects  taught  in  the  house, in  the  pres- 
ence and  under  the  direction  of  one  or  more 
commissioners. 

"  3.  Every  pupil, before  leaving,  shall  give 
a  probationary  lesson,  to  show  to  w^hat  de- 
gree he  possesses  the  art  of  teaching. 

"  4.  After  the  examination  is  over,  and  ex- 
act accounts  of  the  pupils  leaving  are  given 
by  the  director  and  all  the  masters,  a  certifi- 
cate shall  be  delivered  to  each  pupil,  signed 
by  the  director,  the  masters  and  the  com- 
missioners. 

"5,  This  certificate  shall  specify  the 
knowledge  and  talents  of  the  pupil;  it  shall 
state  whether  he  possesses  the  art  of  teach- 
ing, and  whether  his  moral  character  ren- 
ders him  fit  for  the  office  of  primary  school- 
master. It  shall  include,  besides,  a  general 
opinion  of  his  character  and  attainments, 
expressed  by  one  of  the  terms,  ^  excellent,' 
<  good,'  '  passable,'  and  answering  to  the 
numbers  1,  2,  3. 

<  6.  This  certificate  only  gives  the  pupil 


108  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

a  provisional  power  of  receiving  an  appoint- 
ment for  three  years.  After  that  time  he 
must  undergo  a  new  exammation  at  the  nor- 
mal school.  But  any  pupil  who,  on  leav- 
ing the  establishment,  obtained  number 
1,  and  has,  in  the  course  of  the  three  first 
years,  been  teacher  in  a  public  school,  shall 
not  have  to  pass  another  examination.  No 
other  can  take  a  situation,  except  provi- 
sionally. 

"  7.  These  new  examinations  shall  not  take 
place  at  the  same  time  as  those  of  the  pu- 
pils who  are  leaving;  but,  like  those,  al- 
ways in  the  presence  and  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  commissioners  of  the  school- 
board. 

"  8.  In  the  first  examination  the  princi- 
cipal  object  is,  to  ascertain  if  the  pupils 
have  well  understood  the  lessons  of  the  nor- 
mal school,  and  learned  to  apply  them;  in 
the  last,  the  only  object  of  inquiry  is  the 
practical  skill  of  the  candidate. 

«  9.  The  result  of  this  new  examination 
shall  likewise  be  expressed  in  a  certificate, 
appended  to  the  first,  and  care  shall  be  taken 


IN  PRUSSIA.  109 

to  specify  therein  the  fitness  of  the  candi- 
date for  the  profession  of  schoolmaster." 

"  For  which  reason  the  pupils  on  their 
departure  receive  a  certificate,  the  first  page 
of  which  describes  their  talents,  character, 
and  morality,  and  the  two  following  contain 
an  exact  account  of  the  result  of  the  exam- 
ination on  all  branches  of  study. 

"jThose  who  have  not  obtained  appoint- 
ments in  the  interval  between  the  two  ex- 
aminations, shall  present  this  certificate  to 
the  superintendents  and  school-inspectors  of 
the  places  where  they  live,  and,  on  leaving 
that  place,  shall  demand  a  certificate  of  con- 
duct, which  they  shall  produce  at  the  time 
of  the  second  examination.  Those  who 
have  been  in  situations  during  the  three  first 
years,  shall  produce  certificates  from  their 
immediate  superiors. 

"  All  the  pupils  cannot  be  appointed  im- 
mediately on  their  leaving  the  school:  but 
a  great  number  of  them  are  proposed  by  the 
director  for  vacant  places,  and  are  sought 
after  by  the  royal  government,  by  superin- 
tendents, magistrates,  &c.;  so  that  at  the 
10 


110  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

end  of  a  year  we  may  calculate  that  they 
are  all  established. 

^^  I  *  can  answer  for  the  perfect  fidelity 
of  this  description  of  the  normal  school  of 
Potsdam;  and  in  the  long  visit  and  minute 
investigation  of  this  great  establishment 
which  I  made  in  person,  I  came  to  the  con- 
viction that  the  representation  I  have  now 
just  completed  and  which  was  drawn 
up  in  1826,  was,  in  1831,  below  the  real- 
ity. 

"The  primary  normal  school  of  Pots- 
dam now  contains  eighty  students:  they  all 
board  in  the  house.  The  charge  is  48  tha- 
ler a  year  (7/.  4^.)  Half  the  students  pay 
this  entire  sum;  others  have  purses  (exhibi- 
tions) or  half  purses.  The  director  and  the 
masters,  to  the  number  of  five  are  all  lodg- 
ed in  the  house.  The  director's  salary  is 
1060  thaler  a  year,  (159/.;)  the  five  masters 
have  530,  480,  400, 220,  and  200  thaler,  not 
including  an  allowance  for  wood.  180  tha- 
ler a  year  are  devoted  to  the  maintenance 

*  Cousin. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  Ill 

of  a  garden,  and  of  a  gardener,  who  gives 
instruction   in   his  art.     120  thaler  a  year 
are  spent  in  books;  the  library  already  con- 
tains more  than  a  thousand  volumes.  There 
is  a  little  cabinet  of  mineralogy  and  natural 
history,  a   collection  of  seeds,  a  tellurium 
for  the  illustration  of  geographical  and  as- 
tronomical lessons;  there  is  also  a  fine  organ, 
for  every  one  of  the  pupils  is  expected  to 
be  able  to  act  as  organist.     Each  study  has 
its  piano-forte,  each  pupil  his  violin,  and  a 
small  collection  of  books.     I  have  said  that 
there  are  eighty  students:  at  least  a  hundred 
applicants  for  admission  present  themselves 
yearly,  out  of  whom  twenty -six  or  twenty- 
seven  are  chosen — about  the  same  number 
as  quit  the  school.     No  one  can  be  admitted 
before  the  age  of  seventeen  or  eighteen,  but 
they  may  enter  considerably  later;  and  I 
have  seen  students  as  old  as  four-and-twen- 
ty.     At  the  end  of  three  years  there  is  a 
parting  examination;  those  who  go  through 
it  with  credit  are  entered  as  candidates  for 
the  mastership  of  an  elementary  or  burgher 
school. 


112  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

'^  The  course  of  instruction  is  very  tho- 
rough, and  at  the  same  time  very  exten- 
sive. 

"  I  saw  this  scheme  in  action.  The  spirit 
which  dictated  the  arrangement  and  distri- 
bution of  the  tuition  is  excellent,  and  equal- 
ly pervades  all  the  details.  The  normal 
course,  which  occupies  three  years,  is  com- 
posed, for  the  first  year,  of  studies  calculat- 
ed to  open  the  mind,  and  to  inculcate  on  the 
pupils  good  methods  in  every  branch,  and 
the  feeling  of  what  is  the  true  vocation  of 
a  primary  teacher.  This  is  what  is  call- 
ed the  ybrTTZa/ instruction,  in  opposition  to 
the  material  or  more  positive  instruction  of 
the  second  year,  in  which  the  pupils  go 
through  special  studies  of  a  very  solid  kind, 
and  learn  considerably  more  than  they  will 
generally  be  called  upon  to  teach.  The 
third  year,  is  entirely  practical^  and  is  de- 
voted to  learning  the  art  of  teaching. 

<'As  appears  from  the  prospectus,  the 
musical  instruction  is  carried  to  a  very  high 
point  There  are  few  students  who  have 
not  a  violin,  and  many  of  them   leave  the 


IN  PRUSSIA.  113 

school  very  good  organists  and  piano-forte 
players.  Singing  is  particularly  cultivated- 
The  course  of  instruction  embraces  not  only 
a  little  botany,  mineralogy,  physical  science, 
natural  history,  and  zoology,  but  exercises 
in  psychology  and  logic,  which  tend  to  give 
the  young  men  the  philosophy  of  that  por- 
tion of  popular  education  intrusted  to  their 
care.  I  was  present  at  several  lessons; 
among  others,  one  on  history  and  chronolo- 
gy, in  which,  out  of  courtesy  to  me,  the 
pupils  were  interrogated  on  the  history  of 
France,  particularly  during  the  reigns  of 
Charles  IX.;  Henry  III.,  and  Henry  IV., 
— a  period  of  which  protestantism  is  so  im- 
portant a  feature.  The  young  men  answer- 
ed extremely  well,  and  seemed  perfectly 
familiar  with  the  dates  and  leading  facts.  I 
say  nothing  of  the  gymnastic  courses,  as 
Prussia  is  the  classic  land  of  those  exercis- 
es. 

"  What  struck  me  the  most  was  the  cour- 
ses, called  in  Germany  courses  of  Methodik 
and  Didaktik,  as  also  those  designated  by 
the  name  of  Pddagogik:  the  two  former 
10* 


114  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION,  &C. 

intended  to  teach  the  art  of  tuition,  the  lat- 
ter the  more  difficult  art  of  moral  education. 
These  courses  are  almost  always  given  by 
the  director,  who  also  generally  gives  the 
religious  instruction,  which  here  comes  in 
its  proper  place — that  is,  first.  There  are 
many  examples  in  Germany  of  laymen  who 
teach  religion.  As  all  schoolmasters,  who 
are  of  necessity  generally  laymen,  are 
bound  to  give  religious  and  moral  instruc- 
tion in  their  several  schools,  it  follows  of 
course  that  the  teaching  the  art  of  giving 
such  instruction  cannot  be  confined  to  ec- 
clesiastics. 

"  I  ought  to  add  that  all  the  students  of 
the  school  at  Potsdam  had  a  cheerful  happy 
air,  and  that  their  manners  were  very  good. 
If  they  brought  any  rusticity  to  the  school, 
they  had  entirely  lost  it.  I  quitted  the  es- 
tablishment highly  satisfied  with  the  students, 
full  of  esteem  for  the  director,  and  of  re- 
spect for  a  country  in  which  the  education 
of  the  people  has  reached  such  a  pitch  of 
prosperity.'' 


SMALL  NORMAL  SCHOOLS. 

"  The  small  normal  schools  differ,  general- 
ly, from  the  large,  not  onl}^  in  the  number 
of  pupils,  which  is  much  smaller,  but  above 
all  as  being  nurseries  of  village  schoolmas- 
ters for  the  very  poorest  parishes.  The 
great  schools  furnish  masters  for  the  coun- 
try as  well  as  for  the  towns.  The  masters 
from  the  smaller  schools,  labour  for  these 
poor  and  backward  villages.  To  this  their 
whole  organisation,  their  studies,  their  dis- 
cipline, are  to  be  directed.  Unquestionably, 
the  great  normal  schools  of  Prussia  are  en- 
titled to  the  highest  respect;  but  never  can 
there  be  veneration  enough  for  these  humble 
labourers  in  the  field  of  public  instruction, 
who,  as  I  have  said,  seek  obscurity  rather 
than  fame;  who   devote  themselves   to  the 


116  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

service  of  poverty  with  as  much  zeal  as 
others  to  the  pursuit  of  riches,  since  they  toil 
for  the  poor  alone;  and  who  impose  re> 
straints  on  every  personal  desire  and  feeling, 
while  others  are  excited  by  all  the  stimu- 
lants of  competition.  They  cost  scarcely 
anything,  and  they  do  infinite  good.  Nothing 
is  easier  to  establish — but  on  one  condition, 
that  we  find  directors  and  pupils  capable  of 
the  most  disinterested,  and,  what  is  more, 
the  most  obscure,  devotion  to  the  cause. 
Such  devotion,  however,  can  be  inspired 
and  kept  alive  by  religion  alone.  Those 
who  can  consent  to  live  for  the  service  of 
men  who  neither  know  nor  can  appreciate 
them,  must  keep  their  eyes  steadfastly  fixed 
on  Heaven:  that  witness  is  necessary  to 
those  who  have  no  other.  And,  according- 
ly, we  find  that  the  authors  and  directors 
of  these  small  schools  are  almost  all  minis- 
ters of  religion,  inspired  by  the  spirit  of 
Christian  love,  or  men  of  singular  virtue, 
fervent  in  the  cause  of  popular  education. 
In  these  humble  institutions  every  thing 
breathes   Christian   charity,  ardor  for  the 


IN  PRUSSIA.  117 

good  of  the  people,  and  poverty.  I  shall 
lay  before  you  a  description  of  two; — one 
hidden  in  a  suburb  of  Stettin,  and  the 
other  in  the  village  of  Pyritz  in  Pomera- 
nia. 

"  Stettin  has  a  large  normal  school,  insti- 
tuted for  the  training  of  masters  for  the 
burgher  schools.  An  excellent  man,  Mr. 
Bernhardt,  school-councillor  [Schulrath)  in 
the  council  of  the  department,  was  the 
more  powerfully  struck  by  the  necessity  of 
providing  for  the  wants  of  the  country 
schools.  He  founded  a  small  normal  school 
for  this  sole  purpose,  and  placed  it  not  in  the 
town,  but  in  a  suburb  called  Lastadie;  he 
laid  down  regulations  for  its  government, 
which  I  annex  nearly  entire.^' 

Small  Primary  Normal  School  of  Lasta- 
die near  Stettin. 

''  1.  This  school  is  specially  designed  for 
poor  young  men  who  intend  to  become 
country  schoolmasters,  and  who  may,  in 
case  of  need,  gain  a  part  of  their  subsistence 
bv  the  labour  of  their  hands. 


118  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

''2.  Nothing  is  taught  here  but  those 
things  necessary  for  small  and  poor  country 
parishes,  which  require  schoolmasters  who 
are  Christians  and  useful  men,  and  can  afford 
them  but  a  very  slender  recompense  for 
their  toils. 

"  3.  This  school  is  intended  to  be  a 
Christian  school,  founded  in  the  spirit  of 
the  Gospel.  It  aspires  only  to  resemble  a 
village  household  of  the  simplest  kind,  and 
to  unite  all  its  members  into  one  family. 
To  this  end,  all  the  pupils  inhabit  the  same 
house,  and  eat  at  the  same  table  with  the 
masters. 

"  4.  The  young  men  who  will  be  admit- 
ted in  preference,  are  such  as  are  born  and 
bred  in  the  country;  w^ho  know  the  ele- 
ments of  what  ought  to  be  taught  in  a  good 
country  school;  who  have  a  sound  straight- 
forward understanding,  and  a  kindly  cheer- 
ful temper.  If,  withal,  they  know  any 
handicraft  or  understand  gardening,  they 
will  find  opportunities  for  practice  and  im- 
provement in  it  in  odd  hours. 

"5.  The  school  of  Lastadie  neither  can 


IN  PRUSSIA.  119 

nor  will  enter  into  any  competition  with 
the  great  normal  schools  completely  organ- 
ised; on  the  contrary,  it  will  strive  always 
to  keep  itself  within  the  narrow  limits  as- 
signed to  it. 

"  6.  The  utmost  simplicity  ought  to  pre- 
vail in  all  the  habits  of  the  school,  and,  if 
possible,  manual  labour  should  be  combined 
with  those  studies  which  are  the  main  ob- 
ject, and  which  ought  to  occupy  the  greater 
portion  of  the  time. 

"  7.  The  course  of  instruction  is  designed 
to  teach  young  people  to  reflect,  and  by  ex- 
ercising them  in  reading,  writing,  arithme- 
tic, and  singing,  to  put  it  in  their  power  to 
instruct  themselves,  and  to  form  their  own 
minds.  For  the  humblest  person  ought  to 
be  taught  to  think;  but  to  enlighten  him,  to 
make  him  a  rational  and  intelligent  being, 
does  not  mean  to  make  him  highly  learned. 
<  God  willeth  that  all  men  be  enlightened, 
and  that  they  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth.' 

"  8.  The  instruction  ought  to  have  a  di- 
rect  connection   with  the  vocation   of  the 


120  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

students,  and  to  include  only  the  most  es- 
sential part  of  the  instruction  given  in  the 
great  normal  schools. 

"  9.  The  objects  of  instruction  are,  reli- 
gion, the  German  language,  reading,  writ- 
ing, arithmetic,  and  singing.  To  these  are 
joined  the  first  elements  of  geometry,  easy 
lessons  in  natural  history,  narratives  drawn 
from  the  national  histor}^,  and  geographical 
descriptions.  The  principal  object,  and  the 
foundation  of  all  education,  is  religion,  as 
learned  from  history  and  the  Bible.  The 
school  of  Lastadie  will  also  strive  to  excite 
and  cherish  in  its  pupils  a  love  of  nature, 
and  to  that  end  will  cultivate  a  taste  for 
gardening  and  planting. 

"  10.  In  treating  of  all  these  subjects,  the 
pupils  must  be  trained  to  speak  in  pure  and 
accurate  language;  for  after  the  knowledge 
of  religion  and  of  nature,  there  is  nothing  of 
which  children  stand  more  in  need,  than  to 
learn  to  express  what  they  know  with  sim- 
plicity, truth,  and  accuracy. 

"11.  The  students  know  enough,  when 
they  speak,  read,  and  write  wellj    when 


IN  PRUSSIA.  121 

they  can  produce  a  good  composition  in  the 
German  tongue;  when  they  can  calculate 
with  facility  and  with  reflection,  and  when 
they  sing  well;  they  know  enough,  when 
they  are  thoroughly  versed  in  the  Bible, 
when  they  possess  the  most  essential  notions 
of  the  system  of  that  universe  which  they 
have  constantly  before  their  eyes,  of  that 
nature,  in  the  midst  of  which  they  live: 
they  have  attained  much,  when  they  are 
Christians,  rational,  and  virtuous  men. 

"  12.  The  period  of  study  is  fixed  at 
two  years.  The  first  year  the  pupils  learn 
what  they  are  hereafter  to  teach  to  others; 
besides  which,  they  assist  at  the  lessons  the 
masters  give  to  the  children  of  the  school 
annexed  to  this  small  normal  school.  In 
the  second  year  the  future  teacher  appears 
more  distinctly,  and  from  that  time 
every  thing  is  more  and  more  applied  to 
practice.  They  continue  i\\e  whole  year  to 
practice  teaching,  and  at  the  end  they  re- 
ceive a  set  of  rules,  short  and  easy  to  under- 
stand, for  the  management  of  a  school  of 
poor  country  children. 
11 


122  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

"  1 3.  To  the  school  of  Lastadie  is  joined 
a  school  of  poor  children,  in  which  the 
young  men  have  an  opportunity  of  going 
over  what  they  have  learned,  by  teaching  it 
to  others,  and  of  exercising  themselves  in 
tuition  according  to  a  fixed  plan.  This 
school  consists  of  a  single  class,  in  order 
that  the  students  may  see  how  a  good  school 
for  poor  children  should  be  composed  and 
conducted,  and  how  all  the  children  may  be 
kept  employed  at  once. 

"  14.  The  number  of  pupils  is  fixed  at 
twelve.  The  pecuniary  assistance  they  re- 
ceive will  depend  on  circumstances.  The 
instruction  is  gratuitous.  Six  pupils  in- 
habit each  room.  The  master  lives  on  the 
same  floor.  They  take  their  simple  but 
wholesome  meals  together.  Servants  are 
not  wanted.  The  pupils  do  the  work  of  the 
house. 

"  15.  The  daily  lessons  begin  and  end 
with  prayers  and  psalmody.  It  rests  with 
the  master  to  fix  the  hours  of  devotion, 
(founded  chiefly  on  the  Bible  and  the  book 
of  psalms,)  as  well  as  their   number.     So 


IN  PRUSSIA.  123 

long  as  the  true  spirit  of  Christianity — faith 
quickened  by  charity — shall  pervade  the 
establishment,  and  fill  the  hearts  of  masters 
and  of  pupils,  the  school  will  be  Christian, 
and  will  form  Christian  teachers;  and  this 
spirit  of  faith  and  of  charity  will  be  pro- 
ductive of  blessings  to  the  poor  and  to  the 
mass  of  the  nation. 

"  16.  It  will  not,  therefore,  be  necessary 
to  lay  down  minute  regulations;  but  practi- 
cal moral  training  must  be  combined  as 
much  as  possible  with  instruction.  '  The 
letter  killeth,  the  spirit  quickeneth.'  But 
what  will  it  not  require  to  imbue  the  whole 
establishment  with  the  true  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity, so  that  masters  and  pupils  may  de- 
vote themselves  with  their  whole  hearts, 
and  for  the  love  of  God,  to  the  children  of 
the  poor? 

"  17.  Whoever  wishes  to  be  admitted 
into  this  establishment,  must  not  be  under 
eighteen  nor  above  twenty  years  of  age. 
He  must  bring  the  certificates  of  his  pastor, 
of  the  authorities  of  his  parish,  and  of  the 
physician  of  the  circle,  as  to  his  previous 


124  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

conduct  and  the  state  of  his  health.  He 
must,  moreover,  have  such  preliminary 
knowledge  as  is  to  be  acquired  in  a  well-con- 
ducted country  school,  on  Biblical  history, 
reading,  writing,  arithmetic  and  singing. 
Those  who  join  to  these  acquirements  the 
principles  of  piano-forte  or  violin  playing, 
will  be  preferred.  The  candidates  for  ad- 
mission give  notice  to  the  director,  and 
are  examined  by  the  members  of  the  de- 
partmental authorities  who  have  the  care  of 
the  people's  schools. 

"  18.  There  is  no  public  examination. 
The  examination  on  quitting  is  likewise 
conducted  by  the  school-councillors  of  the 
department,  and  the  certificates  of  capacity 
are  founded  on  this  examination,  according 
to  the  gradations  1,  2,  3,  and  are  delivered 
by  the  departmental  authorities. 

"  19.  As  to  the  placing  of  the  pupils,  it 
is  desirable  that  they  should  work  some 
years  as  assistant-masters,  in  order  that  they 
may  gradually  acquire  the  necessary  expe- 
rience and  confidence,  and  may  become  well 
acquainted  with  children,  and  with  the  in- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  125 

habitants  of  villages.  Under  this  supposi- 
tion, the  age  of  admission  might  be  conve- 
niently fixed  at  sixteen;  and  this  arrange- 
ment would  be  a  great  relief  to  aged  school- 
masters who  are  become  burthensome  to 
themselves  and  to  their  parishes. 

"20.  Particular  attention  is  paid  to  sing- 
ing and  to  horticulture;  as  means  of  enno- 
bling and  animating  the  public  worship  of 
God,  and  the  general  course  of  a  country 
life;  of  providing  the  pupils  with  an  agree- 
able recreation,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  use- 
ful occupation;  and,  further,  of  combating 
the  grossness  of  mind  and  the  obstinate 
prejudices  to  which  uneducated  husband- 
men are  prone. 

"21.  All  the  students  attend  divine  ser- 
vice in  the  church  of  Lastadie  on  Sundays. 

"  22.  The  vacations  must  not  exceed  four 
weeks  for  the  whole  year:  they  are  at 
Easter,  in  the  autumn,  and  at  Christmas. 

"  23.  The  establishment  has  no  other 
revenues  than  what  it  owes  to  the  bounty 
of  the  state. 

"  May  this  establishment,  (concludes  Mr. 
11* 


126  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

Bernhadt,)  which  owes  its  existence  to  such 
fervent  charity,  not  be  deprived  of  that 
blessing,  without  which  it  can  do  nothing! 

"  Assuredly  there  is  not  a  virtuous  heart 
which  does  not  unite  its  prayers  with  those 
of  the  worthy  and  benevolent  councillor. 

"  The  second  small  normal  school  of  this 
description  was  founded  in  1824,  in  honour 
of  Otto,  bishop  of  Bamberg,  who  introduc- 
ed Christianity  into  Pomerania,  having 
baptized  4000  Pomeranians  in  1124,  near 
the  fountain  of  Pyritz.  When  the  minister 
of  public  instruction  granted  the  license  foi* 
its  establishment,  he  made  it  a  condition 
that  the  students  should  be  instructed  in 
agriculture,  not  merely  as  a  recreation,  but 
as  essential  to  their  destination;  that  they 
should  be  bound  to  study  gardening,  the 
cultivation  of  fruit-trees,  and  of  silk-worms. 
— The  special  superintendence  of  this  house 
is  intrusted  to  the  pastor  of  the  place.  The 
regulations  are  as  follows: — they  resemble 
those  of  Lastadie  in  many  respects,  but  go 
into  great  detail,  and  are  perhaps  still  more 
austere  as  to  discipline. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  127 

Rules  of  the  small  Normal  School  of  Py- 
ritz  in  Pom,erania. 

"  1.  The  purpose  of  this  endowment  is 
to  give  to  every  pupil  the  training  and  in- 
struction suitable  for  a  good  and  useful 
country  schoolmaster:  this,  however,  can 
only  be  done  by  the  union  of  Christian 
piety  with  a  fundamental  knowledge  of  his 
vocation,  and  with  good  conduct  in  the 
household  and  in  the  school. 

"  2.  Piety  is  known — 

"  By  purity  of  manners; 

"  By  sincerity  in  word  and  deed; 

<^  By  love  of  God  and  of  his  word; 

<'  By  love  of  our  neighbour; 

*<  By  willing  obedience  to  superiors  and 
masters; 

"  By  brotherly  harmony  among  the  pu- 
pils; 

"  By  active  participation  in  the  pious  ex- 
ercises of  the  house,  and  of  public  wor- 
ship. 

"By   respect  for  the   government    and 


128  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

laws,  by  unshaken  fidelity  to  our  country, 
by  uprightness  of  heart  and  of  conduct. 

"  3.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  the  du- 
ties of  a  teacher  are  acquired — 

"By  long  study  of  the  principles  and 
elements; 

"  By  learning  what  is  necessary  and  real- 
ly useful  in  that  vocation; 

"  By  habits  of  reflection  and  of  volunta- 
ry labour; 

"  By  constant  application  to  lessons; 

"  By  incessant  repetition  and  practice; 

"  By  regular  industry  and  well-ordered 
activity;  according  to  this  commandment, 
*  Pray  and  work.' 

"  4.  Good  conduct  in  the  house  and  the 
school  requires — 

"  A  good  distribution  and  employment 
of  time; 

"  Inflexible  order,  even  in  what  appears 
petty  and  insignificant; 

"  Silence  in  hours  of  study  and  work; 

"  Quietness  in  the  general  demeanour; 

"  Care  and  punctuality  in  the  completion 
of  all  works  commanded; 


IN  PRUSSIA.  129 

"  Decent  manners  towards  every  person 
and  in  every  place;  decorum  at  meals; 

"  Respect  for  the  property  of  the  school 
and  for  all  property  of  others; 

"  The  utmost  caution  with  regard  to  fire 
and  light; 

"  Cleanliness  of  person  and  of  clothing; 

"  Simplicity  in  dress,  and  in  the  manner 
of  living;  according  to  the  golden  rule, 
<  Every  thing  in  its  time  and  place.  Let 
things  have  their  course.  Provide  things 
honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men.' 
II. 

"  1.  All  the  pupils  inhabit  one  house  and 
one  room;  for  they  must  live  in  union,  and 
form  one  family  of  brothers,  loving  one  an- 
other. 

"  2.  The  whole  order  of  the  house  rests 
on  the  master  of  the  school;  he  lives  in  the 
midst  of  the  pupils;  he  has  the  immediate 
superintendence  of  them,  of  their  conduct, 
and  of  their  labours.  He  ought  to  be  to 
those  under  his  care  what  a  father  of  a 
Christian  family  is  in  his  household. 

"  He  is  responsible  for  the  accounts  of 


130  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

the  establishment,  the  registers,  the  result 
of  the  quarterly  examinations,  and  for  the 
formation  of  the  necessary  lists.  He  has 
the  special  care  of  the  provisions,  the 
rooms,  the  library,  the  furniture.  He  is  re- 
sponsible to  the  school-administration  for 
good  order  in  every  department. 

"  3,  The  oldest  and  most  intelligent  of 
the  students  assist  the  master.  He  is  call- 
ed the  master's  assistant.  He  must  take 
care — 

"  That  every  one  in  the  room  under  his 
care  rises  and  goes  to  bed  at  the  appointed 
moment: 

"  That  nobody  without  the  master's  per- 
mission, leave  the  house,  smoke,  or  carry 
candles  into  the  passages  or  the  loft: 

"That  no  one  wantonly  injure  the 
windows,  doors,  or  furniture,  or  throw  any- 
thing out  of  the  windows: 

"  That  the  utmost  cleanliness  be  observed 
in  the  sitting-room,  the  passage,  and  the 
sleeping-room; 

"  That  all  clothes,  linen,  books,  &c.,  be  in 
their  places; 


IN  PRUSSIA.  131 

"  That  no  noise  be  made  in  going  up  and 
down  stairs,  or  in  going  to  the  children's 
school. 

"  It  is  his  especial  business  to  help  his 
companions  in  the  preparation  of  their  les- 
sons, to  hear  them  repeat,  to  prepare  the 
exercises  for  their  master,  and  to  assist  him 
as  far  as  he  can  in  all  his  business.  He  ought 
to  be  to  his  fellow-students  what  a  good 
elder  brother  is  to  his  young  brothers  and 
sisters.  He  is  chosen,  on  the  master's  re- 
commendation, by  the  school-committee. 

"  4.  The  humbler  sort  of  household 
work,  such  as  cleaning  and  putting  in  order 
the  rooms,  dusting  the  furniture,  fetching 
water,  cleaving  wood,  &c.,  is  done  by  the 
pupils,  who  serve  a  week  in  rotation.  The 
time  of  service  is  prolonged  by  order  of  the 
master,  in  case  of  negligence. 

"  5.  The  order  of  the  day  is  as  follows — 

"  In  winter  at  five,  in  summer  at  half- 
past  four  in  the  morning,  at  a  given  signal, 
all  the  pupils  must  rise,  make  their  beds, 
and  dress. 

"  Half  an  our   after  rising,  that  is  half- 


132  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

past  five  in  winter,  and  five  in  the  summer, 
all  the  pupils  must  be  assembled  in  the 
school-room.  The  assistant  first  pronounc- 
es the  morning  benediction,  and  each  pupil 
then  occupies  himself  in  silence  till  six. 
If  any  repetitions  stand  over  from  the  pre- 
ceding day,  they  must  be  heard  now.  After 
this,  breakfast. 

"  In  winter,  as  well  as  in  summer,  the 
lessons  begin  at  six  o'clock,  and  last  till  a 
quarter  before  eight.  Then  the  students  go 
with  their  master  to  the  children's  school, 
attached  to  the  normal  school,  where  they  re- 
main till  ten,  either  listening,  or  assisting  in 
small  classes;  some  teaching  or  they  may  be 
employed  in  their  own  studies  at  home. 

"  To  these  employments  succeeds  an  hour 
of  recreation,  and  then  an  hour's  lesson  in 
the  establishment. 

"  At  noon,  the  students  assemble  in  the 
master's  room  where  they  find  a  frugal  but 
wholesome  meal,  consisting  of  vegetables 
meat  and  fish,  at  the  rate  of  two  thaler  (six 
shillings)  a  month. 

"The  time  which  remains, till  one  o'clock, 


IN  PRUSSIA.  133 

may  be  passed  in  music,  gardening,  and 
walking. 

"  In  the  afternoon,  from  one  till  three, 
while  the  master  is  teaching  in  the  town 
school,  the  pupils  accompany  him,  as  in  the 
morning.     From  three  till  five,  lessons. 

"The  succeeding  hours,  from  five  till 
seven,  are,  according  to  the  seasons,  employ- 
ed in  bodily  exercises,  or  in  the  school-room 
in  quiet  occupations.  At  seven  they  assem- 
ble at  a  simple  cold  supper. 

"  From  seven  to  eight  they  practise  sing- 
ing and  the  violin;  then  repetitions  or  silent 
study  till  ten,  when  all  go  to  bed. 

^'  Two  afternoons  of  each  week  are  free, 
and  are  usually  spent  in  long  walks.  The 
time  from  four  to  six,  or  from  five  to  seven, 
is  devoted  to  the  practice  of  music. 

"  On  Sundays  or  holidays  all  the  pupils 
must  attend  divine  service  in  the  church  of 
the  town,  and  assist  in  the  choir.  The  re- 
mainder of  these  days  may  be  passed  by 
every  one  as  he  pleases:  in  the  course  of 
the  morning,  however,  the  students  must 
write  down  the  heads  of  the  sermon  (the 
12 


134  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

text,  the  main  subject,  the  distribution,) 
and  in  the  evening  must  give  an  account 
of  the  manner  in  which  they  have  spent  the 
day. 

"Every  evening,  as  well  as  on  the  morn- 
ings of  Sundays  and  holidays,  a  portion  of 
time  is  spent  in  meditation  in  common. 

"  A  few  Sundays  after  the  setting-in  of 
winter,  and  after  the  festival  of  St.  John,* 
the  students  partake  of  the  Lord's  supper, 
in  company  with  their  masters. 

"  Every  student,  from  the  time  of  his 
admission,  must  solemnly  engage  (in  token 
of  which  he  gives  his  hand  to  the  master 
and  signs  his  name)  to  follow  the  rules  of 
the  house,  which  may  be  summed  up  in 
these  three  principal  maxims: — 

"  1.  Order  in  behaviour  and  in  work, 
combined  with  the  utmost  simplicity  in  all 
things;  to  the  end  that  the  students  who  be- 
long to  the  poorer  classes,  and  whose  des- 
tiny it  is  to  be  teachers  of  the  poor,  may 
willingly   continue   in   that  condition,  and 


May  6th. 


i 


IN  PRUSSIA.  135 

may  not  learn  to  know  wants  and  wishes 
which  they  will  not,  and  ought  not  to  have 
the  power  of  satisfying.  For  this  reason, 
they  must  be  their  own  servants. 

"  2.  As  to  the  course  of  instruction,  the 
repetitions  must  always  be  heard  by  the 
forwardest  pupils.  The  pupils  must 
•be  made  as  much  as  possible,  to  teach 
each  other  what  they  have  learned  of  the 
master,  in  order  that  they  may  perfect 
themselves  in  the  art  of  teaching. 

"3.  Piety  and  the  fear  of  God  should 
be  the  soul  of  their  little  community,  but  a 
a  true  Christian  piety,  a  fear  of  God  ac- 
cording to  knowledge  and  light,  so  that  the 
pupils  may  do  all  to  the  Glory  of  God,  and 
may  lead  a  simple,  humble,  and  serene  life, 
resigned  and  contented  in  labour  and  tra- 
vail, according  to  the  exhortation  of  the 
Apostle; 

"  Fulfil  ye  my  joy,  that  ye  be  like-mind- 
ed, having  the  same  love,  being  ot  one  ac- 
cord of  one  mind.  Let  nothing  be  done 
through  strife  or  vain-glory;  but  in  lowli- 


136  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION,  &C. 

ness  of  mind  let  each  esteem  other  better 
than  themselves." — Philipp.  ii.  2,  3. 

"  And  as  many  as  walk  according  to  the 
rule,  peace  be  on  them  and  mercy!" — Ga- 
lat.  vi.  16. 

<'  I  abstain  from  all  comments  on  these 
two  sets  of  regulations.  The  greater  num- 
ber of  the  small  normal  schools  of  Prussia? 
are  founded  and  governed  in  the  same  spir- 
it. All  rest  on  the  sacred  basis  of  Christi- 
anity. But  beneath  their  simple  lowly  ex- 
terior we  trace  a  taste  for  instruction,  a  feel- 
ing for  nature,  a  love  of  music,  which  take 
away  every  vestige  of  coarseness,  and  give 
these  modest  institutions  a  character  of  libe- 
rality. Undoubtedly  all  this  is  the  offspring 
of  the  national  manners,  and  of  the  genius 
of  Germany;  yet  Christian  charity  might 
transplant  a  good  deal  of  it  into  our  coun- 
try." 


PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 


UNITED  STATES. 


It  is  the  design  of  the  discourse  on  the 
Prussian  system,  and  of  the  extracts  from 
Cousin's  Report,  which  describe  the  schools 
for  education  of  teachers,  rather  to  com- 
mend the  design  and  spirit  of  the  system, 
than  to  urge  such  a  system,  servilely  copi- 
ed,upon  the  American  people.  It  has  intrinsic 
attributes  of  universal  excellence.  Its  extent 
of  application  is  one  of  its  best  features;  its 
moral  power  is  its  very  best;  its  acceptable- 
ness  to  the  people  who  enjoy  its  benefits  is 
12* 


138  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

its  highest  praise.  In  this  country  we  are 
satisfied  with  a  much  lower  standard  of  pub- 
lic education,  though  we  esteem  that  which 
we  have.  Indeed  it  is  esteemed  too  much; 
too  much  to  be  improved  as  it  might  be,  if 
conviction  of  its  deficiencies  should  influence 
the  measures  of  its  benefactors  and  its  proper 
functionaries.  It  would  be  an  eminent  ser- 
vice to  society  in  any  of  these  states,  and 
in  all,  if  a  commission  of  enlightened  men 
authorised  by  legislative  appointment,  and 
adequatelypaid  for  their  labour,  would  make 
themselves  positively  and  accurately  ac- 
quainted with  the  results  of  instruction 
throughout  any  single  state.  They  would  ex- 
amine the  whole  school,  not  "  picked  child- 
ren"— they  would  enquire  into  the  effects  of 
instruction  upon  young  persons  educated 
wholly  in  the  public  schools  after  they  have 
left  those  schools,  and  are  employed  in  the 
business  of  life;  they  would  also  examine  the 
books  used  in  the  schools:  the  scope  and  aim 
of  instruction  given  there;  they  would  care- 
fully inform  themselves  of  the  general  quali- 
fications of  the  teachers  employed   in  the 


IN  PRUSSIA.  139 

schools;  and,  if  they  made  honest  reports 
of  what  they  had  observed  and  ascertained, 
they  would  interest  and  enlighten  the  pub- 
lic mind  upon  the  subject;  and,  in  order  to 
enlighten  their  own  minds,  if  they  should 
make  themselves  acquainted  with  what  has 
been  accomplished  in  other  parts  of  the 
world,  by  an  efficient  public  education,  be- 
sides exhibiting  plans  in  actual  operation  in 
other  countries  for  the  general  information, 
they  might  introduce  reformatory  measures 
of  the  best  tendencies  and  uses  in  general 
society. 

Education  will  never  be  reformed,  me- 
thodised, and  exalted,  to  any  large  extent 
and  power,  till  men  who  are  learned,  philo- 
sophical, and  truly  benevolent  shall  be  ap- 
pointed to  this  work,  and  shall  perform  it 
faithfully. 

The  office  of  inspection  and  trust  would 
itself  be  highly  enlightened  by  the  exposi- 
tions of  such  a  commission;  they  would 
show  alike  the  necessities  and  the  capabili- 
ties of  the  rising  race.  Similar  commis- 
sions of  larger  and  smaller  power  have  been 


140  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

authorised,  in  England  and  Ireland,  to  in- 
form the  public  of  the  true  state  of  schools, 
and  their  representations  ill  agree  with 
those  of  the  proper  functionaries  of  the 
schools.  The  London  Quarterly  Journal 
of  Education,  the  Edinburgh  Review,  and 
the  English  newspapers,  have  exposed  the 
general  perversion,  and  inoperativeness  of 
many  public  schools,  richly  endowed;  and 
particularly  of  charity  and  National  schools, 
where  instruction  is  a  dead  letter  almost,  and 
where  even  the  small  assumed  uses  of  the 
schools  come  entirely  short  of  their  pre- 
tended  efficacy. 

It  cannot  be  believed  by  those  who  ex- 
amine the  subject  at  all,  that  in  this  country, 
the  popular  education  does  perform  its  true 
function.  It  does  much,  but  not  so  much 
as  is  presumed;  not  the  thousandth  part  of 
what  it  might  do.  Still  the  value  of  this 
education  to  those  who  are  in  possession  of 
its  benefits  cannot  be  doubted  for  a  moment. 
The  benefits  of  the  common  education  now 
enjoyed  in  New  England,  from  the  first 
settlement  of  that  country,  have  ever  been 


IN  PRUSSIA  141 

suitably  appreciated.  In  a  convention  held 
in  Massachusetts,  in  1821,  the  uses  of  this 
most  excellent  institution  were  most  worth- 
ily and  eloquently  set  forth  by  Mr.  Webster. 
As  the  organ  of  the  public  sentiment,  he 
thus  described  them.  *<  For  the  purpose  of 
public  instruction,  we  hold  every  man  sub- 
ject to  taxation  in  proportion  to  his  proper- 
ty; and  we  look  not  to  the  question,  wheth- 
er he  himself  have,  or  have  not  children  to 
be  benefitted  by  the  education  for  which  he 
pays;  we  regard  it  as  a  wise  and  liberal 
system  of  police,  by  which  property  and 
life,  and  the  peace  of  society,  are  secured. 
We  hope  to  excite  a  feeling  of  respectabili- 
ty and  a  sense  of  character  by  enlarging  the 
capacities,  and  increasing  the  sphere  of  in- 
tellectual enjoyment.  By  general  instruc- 
tion, we  seek,  so  far  as  possible,  to  purify  the 
moral  atmosphere;  to  keep  good  sentiments 
uppermost,  and  to  turn  the  strong  current  of 
feeling  and  opinion,  as  well  as  the  censures 
of  law,  and  the  denunciations  of  religion, 
against  immorality  and  crime.  We  hope 
for  a  security  beyond  the  law  and  above  the 


142  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

law,  in  the  prevalence  of  enlightened  and 
well-principled  moral  sentiment.  We  hope 
to  continue  and  prolong  the  time,  when, 
in  the  villages  and  farm-houses  of  New 
England,  there  may  be  undisturbed  sleep 
within  unbarred  doors.  We  do  not  indeed 
expect  all  men  to  be  philosophers  or  states- 
men; but  we  confidently  trust,  that  by  the 
diffusion  of  general  knowledge  and  good 
and  virtuous  sentiments,  the  political  fabric 
may  be  secure,  as  well  against  open  violence 
and  overthrow,  as  against  the  slow  but  sure 
undermining  of  licentiousness.  We  rejoice 
that  every  man  in  this  community  may  call 
all  property  his  own,  so  far  as  he  has  occa- 
sion for  it  to  furnish  for  himself  and  his 
children  the  blessings  of  religious  instruc- 
tion and  the  elements  of  knowledge.  This 
celestial  and  this  earthly  light,  he  is  entitled 
to  by  the  fundamental  laws.  It  is  every 
poor  man's  undoubted  birth-right;  it  is  the 
great  blessing  which  this  constitution  has 
secured  to  him;  it  is  his  solace  in  life;  and 
it  may  be  his  consolation  in  death,  that  his 
country  stands  pledged,  by  the  faith  which 


IN  PRUSSIA.  143 

it  has  plighted  to  all  its  citizens,  to  protect 
his  children  from  ignorance,  barbarity,  and 
vice." 

This  is  a  grand  exhibition  of  the  design 
and  objects  of  national  education,  and  the 
merit  of  it  is,  that  it  is  not  a  project,  but  a 
report  in  truth,  from  fact;  an  article  of 
moral  statistics,  as  genuine  as  it  is  beautiful. 
And  yet,  the  very  education  which  the 
great  statesman  commends  so  much;  in 
which  he  believes  so  truly,  which  has  been, 
and  is,  and  will  be,  so  fraught  with  bless- 
ings tc  all  those  who  come  within  its  influ- 
ences, does  not  accomplish  the  half  of  what 
it  assumes.  It  is  infinitely  better  than  no 
education  at  all,  but  miserably  inferior  and 
inoperative,  compared  with  what  a  truly 
rational  system  of  public  instruction,  tho- 
roughly put  in  practice  might  be.  All  that 
can  be  truly  said  of  it  is,  that  it  is  good  as 
far  as  it  goes,  and  that  it  includes  all  people 
in  its  provisions.  It  is  not  so  good  as  to 
supply  all  wants  of  the  popular  mind.  For 
the  opulent;  for  the  preeminently  gifted, 
it  is  well  and  right  to  furnish  extraordinary 


144  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

cultivation.  The  luxuries  of  intellect  large- 
ly imparted  to  him  that  can  buy,  does  not 
diminish  the  value  of  that  which  is  "  with- 
out price"  for  him  that  has  no  money. 
The  patrimony  of  the  poor  man  in  knowl- 
edge is  not  less,  because  that  of  the  more  fa- 
voured is  greater.  In  the  accomplished,  the 
learned,  the  full-developed  human  being,  he 
to  whom  less  is  given  beholds  the  human  na- 
ture illustrated;  he  feels  his  own  kindred  to 
the  man  of  genius,  and  the  man  of  great  at- 
tainments; he  respects  himself  the  more  for 
the  bond  of  brotherhood  and  affinity  which 
unites  him  to  one  more  nobly  endowed. 
To  provide  this  happiness  for  the  least  fa- 
voured is  surely  the  duty  of  the  better  en- 
dowed. One  of  the  great  objects  of  a  wise 
popular  education,  is  the  harmony  and 
gradation  it  might  establish  in  human  So- 
ciety; the  feeling  it  might  induce  in  the  ex- 
alted, that  the  less-favoured  are  born  to  be 
served  eminently  through  the  radiation  of 
science  and  all  truth  from  themselves;  by 
laws  emanating  from  them,  and  by  cares 
that  give  effect  to    laws.      And  the  cor- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  145 

respondence  of  feeling  in  every  class,  that 
shall  exactly  value  themselves  and  others 
according  to  the  true  dignity  of  human  na- 
ture, and  the  relative  value  of  each  individ- 
ual. No  popular  system  of  education  has 
thoroughly  accomplished  all  this.  It  is 
maintained  that  the  popular  education  of 
New  England  does  not  produce  any  thing 
like, this  effect;  else  why  should  small  pri- 
vate schools,  and  charity  schools  exist  at  all; 
and  they  do  exist  to  great  extent;  for 
though  the  public  school  is  open  to  all 
children,  all  children  are  not  sent  there;  in 
considerable  towns,  not  more  than  a  third 
part  of  them;  and  very  poor  persons  are 
glad  of  feome  other  education  for  their 
families  when  it  offers.  How  happens 
this?  It  may  be  explained  in  the  following 
representation  of  the  true  function  and  ob- 
jects of  education. 

"  No  term  in  our  language  has  been  more 
abused  and  misapplied  than  that  of  educa- 
tion. By  the  great  majority  of  persons  in 
civilised  society  it  is  considered  as  consist- 
ing merely  in  the  acquisition  of  pronuncia- 
13 


146  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

tion,  spelling  and  grammar;  of  writing, 
casting  accounts,  and  the  knowledge  of  lan- 
guages; and  these  acquisitions  are  generally 
considered  of  value,  chiefly  as  they  prepare 
the  individual  for  enjoying  certain  secular 
employments,  and  are  instrumental  in  pro- 
curing his  subsistence."  By  some  persons, 
however,  education  is  regarded  as  formation 
of  character,  the  discipline  of  intellect,  and  the 
building  up  of  moral  principle,  and  of  moral 
power.  In  truth  it  is  all  these.  Few  ap- 
prehend all  this,  particularly  legislators,  and 
school-co  ntroUers. 

Now  in  place  of  such  designs,  at  the  pre- 
sent time,  we  only  look  for  the  least  and 
lowest  efficacy  in  the  common  school. 
"  The  school  is  the  place  to  teach  science, 
and  not  to  teach  morals,"  once  said  ^preach- 
er of  religion  to  the  writer. — "  It  is  not  of 
consequence  what  the  book  teaches  parti- 
cularly, which  is  used  in  school — it  is  in- 
tended to  teach  to  read^^  said  the  master  of 
a  large  boy's  school,  to  the  same  individual. 
These  remarks  explain  the  assertions  of  a 
popular  writer  upon  the  subject.     "  Kfar- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  147 

rago  of  words  have  been  substituted  in  the 
place  of  things;  the  elements  of  language 
have  been  preferred  to  the  elements  of 
thought;  the  key  of  knowledge  has  been 
exhibited  instead  of  knowledge  itself;  and 
the  youthful  mind,  at  the  termination  of 
the  common  process  of  instruction,  is  al- 
most as  destitute  of  ideas,  as  at  its  com- 
mencement." And  not  only  destitute  of 
ideas  which  might  adorn  conversation,  but 
of  such  as  are  right  principles  of  human 
action ;  defences  against  animal  propensities; 
defences  against  "  evil  communications,'* 
profligate  examples  and  false  counsel.  Un- 
der the  present  casual  system  no  adequate 
provision  is  made  for  the  whole  man.  The 
speculative,  the  reflective  faculties,  and  the 
active  powers,  or  practical  principle,  are 
left  without  virtuous  habits.  The  mind 
has  never  been  taught,  ^ri^^A  above  all  things, 
andythe  rules  of  action  that  would  be  fur- 
nished in  the  course  of  a  wise  education; 
have  not  commenced  the  career  of  conduct 
which  makes  the  good  citizen. 

There  is  a  feeling  in  the  popular  mind  of 


148  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

all  this,  though  the  people  do  not  perhaps 
exactly  understand  it.  '^  My  child  gets  no 
good  at  this  school.  He  learns  very  little, 
or  he  learns  nothing,  at  the  town  school. 
He  does  not  like  to  go  there.  I  would 
send  him  to  a  private  school,  to  a  pay  school, 
if  I  could,''  is  a  very  common  declaration  of 
poor  people,  in  respect  to  public  schools 
where  they  are  established;  and  this  dis- 
content is  founded  in  rational  objections;  in 
the  exceeding  imperfection  of  the  schools. 

To  remedy  this,  or  to  attempt  a  remedy, 
is  the  aim  of  a  public  school  establishment. 
It  is  designed  to  act  upon  the  whole  of  the 
community,  to  raise  up  whole  classes  of  men, 
to  make  every  person  in  the  body  politic  fit 
for  his  privileges  and  his  place;  to  prevent 
crime,  to  secure  peace  and  order,  and  to 
multiply  and  exalt  the  enjoyments  of  each 
and  every  member  of  society.  "  Peace  on 
earth,  and  good  will  to  men,"  are  as  much 
in  the  spirit  of  such  an  institution,  as  they 
are  in  the  teachings  of  Christ;  or  in  the  legis- 
lation of  Penn;  or  in  the  counsels  and  servi- 
ces of  every  philanthropist,  from  Socrates, 


IN  PRUSSIA.  149 

to  the  thousand  minds  that  now  teach  every 
where  to  "  Honour  all  men/'  It  is  very- 
desirable  that  such  an  establishment  should 
exist  in  every  free  state;  indeed  in  every 
human  community;  and,  that  it  should  satis- 
fy every  body.  In  truth  it  would  satisfy 
al],  if  the  experiment  were  thoroughly 
made,  as  much  as  ripe  harvests,  and  fruitful 
fields  satisfy  them.  Prejudices  oppose  un- 
tried experiments,  but  not  happy  conse- 
quences. The  Dutch,  at  the  Cape  Colony, 
refused  English  ploughs. — "  Fader  did  not 
use  such  a  one," — but  we  never  heard  that 
they  refused  the  ingathering  of  the' corn; 
neither  would  any  people,  ever  so  contented 
in  ignorance,  refuse  benefits  of  new  intelli- 
gence; of  art  lightening  their  toil;  of  sci- 
ence opening  their  understandings;  of  litera- 
ture adorning  their  social  intercourse;  of 
morality  exalting  their  pursuits.  This  truth 
is  so  far  realised  by  those  that  think  and  act 
for  the  welfare  of  the  whole,  that  in  almost 
all  these  states,  the  laws  offer  assistance  and 
inducements  to  the  people  to  cultivate  their 
minds,  and  improve  their  condition,  as  in- 
13* 


150  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

telligent  beings.  It  is  the  design  of  this 
little  work,  to  show  in  some  measure,  the 
direct  means  by  which  the  popular  education 
may  be  exalted  in  kind,  and  by  which  it 
may  produce  its  genuine  results. 

According  to  the  Prussian  system,  as  has 
been  shown,  an  effective  popular  education 
has  three  principal  elements  of  power;  wise 
supervision,  qualified  teachers,  and  rational 
books. 

The  qualified  inspectors  of  schools  must 
form  themselves.  The  professional  and 
educated  men  of  the  country,  must  be  call- 
ed into  this  service,  by  enlightened  public 
sentiment,  and  by  the  necessities  of  those 
that  need  their  direction;  and  a  true  pub- 
lic spirit  will  dispose  them  to  act,  cheerful- 
ly and  faithfully  in  this  vocation. 

Teachers  of  suitable  moral  principles,  ne- 
cessary knowledge,  and  acquired  skill  in 
teaching,  must  be  educated  and  practised 
in  schools  of  discipline  and  experiment,  be- 
fore they  can  give  any  great  effect  to  the 
office  of  instruction. 

Elementary  books  must  come  under  a 


IN  PRUSSIA.  151 

special  commission.  Ill  suited  compends 
must  give  place  to  works  of  other  selection, 
and  wise  adaptation.  Morality,  in  addition  to 
what  are  called,  common  elements,  must  be 
taught  "  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon 
precept;"  by  History  written  for  a  true 
Tnoral  use;  and  by  such  representations  of 
God,  as  physical  science,  demonstrated  by 
rational  piety,  shall  hold  up  to  the  suscepti- 
ble minds  and  hearts  of  the  young. 

Provision  for  the  public  instruction  is 
the  unquestionable  interest  and  duty  of  every 
wise  government;  for  the  primary  object  of 
every  such  government  must  be  to  increase 
the  true  happiness  of  the  people.  The 
highest  quality  of  human  happiness,  is  that 
derived  from  the  exalting  of  the  intellect 
and  the  purifying  of  the  hearts  of  men,  to 
the  end,  that  the  aim  of  theid*  ambition  may 
be  worthy  of  rational  beings,  and  their  com- 
mon intercourse  be  carried  on  with  all  the 
satisfaction  of  mutual  love,  honour,  and 
trust.  In  proportion  as  they  are  enlighten- 
ed in  respect  to  their  own  moral  value,  and 
their  true  interest,  as  men  and  members  of 


152  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

society,  the  more  must  their  manners  and 
actions  be  humanised  by  the  principles  of 
justice,  and  charity.  Thus  the  moral  cul- 
ture of  the  rising  race,  and  a  practical  sys- 
tem of  advancing  society  by  means  of  edu- 
cation, must  enter  into  true  political  science. 
The  knowledge  of  what  is  right,  and  the 
cherished  sense  of  self-dignity,  of  course 
restrain  men  from  crimes,  and  elevate  them 
to  the  love  and  pursuit  of  what  is  good. 

The  greater  part  of  the  evils  which  afflict 
human  society,  have  their  origin  in  the  gro- 
velling state,  in  which  the  larger  part  of  man- 
kind are  held  by  ignorance,  and  in  the  false 
direction  given  to  their  energies.  To  teach 
self-discipline,  and  the  true  object  of  life,  is 
the  function  of  education.  Not  merely  the 
education  of  elect  people, — of  young  gen- 
tlemen and  ladies,  but  of  all  people. 

This  obligation  of  the  state,  to  the  rising 
generation  of  every  degree,  is  certainly  a 
discovery  of  modern  philanthropy;  but  the 
reasonableness  and  practicableness  of  the 
duty  consequent  to  it,  are  now  perfectly  de- 
monstrated, and  every  disinterested  and  up- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  153 

right  politician  believes  in  it.  To  improve, 
carry  on,  and  perfect,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
education  of  the  people  is  a  direct  result  of 
faith  in  the  capabilities,  and  it  may  be 
said,  in  the  true  destiny  of  man.  The  ac- 
knowledgment of  this  obligation  to  society, 
from  those  that  minister  in  their  own  proper 
vocation  to  its  welfare,  is  beautiful.  Mr. 
Everett,  the  enlightened  chief  magistrate 
of  Massachusetts,  says,  in  his  recent  inau- 
gural speech,  "  Almost  the  only  compul- 
sion exercised  towards  the  citizen,  in  his 
private  affairs,  by  the  state,  is  that  which 
compels  him  to  provide  the  means  of  edu- 
cating his  children.  Left  with  the  least 
practical  interference  from  the  law,  in  all 
other  respects,  he  is  obliged  to  support  free 
schools,  by  which  the  elements  of  useful 
knowledge  are  brought  within  the  use  of 
all,  alike  those  who  do  and  who  do  not,  bear 
a  part  of  the  burden." 

And  in  the  course  of  that  excellent  docu- 
ment, in  which  this  school  obligation  is 
asserted  as  useful  law — the  protection  of  the 
common  intelligence  and  virtue,  the  speaker 


154  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

proceeds  to  enforce   the  true  spirit  of  that 
law  as  follows: 

"  While  the  contemplation  of  our  nume- 
rous political  and  social  blessings  is  calculat- 
ed to  fill  us  with  grateful  emotions,  it  should 
inspire  us  with  the  resolute  purpose  of  dis- 
charging the  duty,  which  their  possession 
devolves  upon  us.  It  rests  with  us  to  take 
care,  that  these  privileges  pass  unimpaired 
to  our  children.  To  this  end,  we  must  pre- 
serve our  institutions  in  their  purity.  We 
must  keep  alive  their  spirit.  We  must  see 
that  principles,  which  are  in  all  time  the 
same,  are  embodied  in  laws  and  forms,  that 
keep  pace  with  the  increase  of  intelligence. 
This  will  require  us  not  merely  to  hold  fast 
to  that  which  is  good,  but  to  introduce  those 
improvements  and  reforms,  which  may  be 
demanded  by  the  growth  of  knowledge  in 
the  science  of  government;  by  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  standard  of  public  morality; 
and,  in  general,  by  the  lessons  of  experience. 
The  people  of  America  should  be  the  last 
blindly  to  adhere  to  what  is  established, 
merely  as  such;  and  it  may  sometimes  be 


IN  PRUSSIA.  155 

our  duty  to  imitate  our  forefathers,  in  the 
great  trait  of  their  characters — the  courage 
of  reform — rather  than  to  bow  implicitly  to 
their  authority  in  matters,  in  which  the  hu- 
man mind  has  made  progress  since  their 
day." 

^'  The  courage  of  reform'^  is  at  this  mo- 
ment needed  in  the  institutions  of  learning, 
which,  being  designed  for  the  best  ends,  only 
come  short  of  them  through  the  apathy  and 
inattention  of  those  minds  in  the  country, 
to  whom  leisure  and  knowledge  afford  the 
ability  to  remodel  and  elevate  human  so- 
ciety. 

At  the  present  time,  we  have  a  multitude 
of  means  for  the  improvement  of  the  popu- 
lar mind  which  fail  of  their  proposed  end, 
for  want  of  the  elementary  preparation 
which  common  education  ought  to  afford. 
Mr.  George  Combe,  the  author  of  a  valu- 
able work  on  the  Constitution  of  Man,  has 
shown  in  his  lectures  on  Popular  Education 
that  in  Scotland  and  England,  popular  libra- 
ries are  little  read;  lectures  not  generally 
attended;  and   cheap  periodicals  of  small, 


156  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

or  no  use,  to  numbers  that  might  profit  by 
them;  and  Mr.  Combe,  has  also  shown  that 
the  inefficacy  of  these  provisions  is  princi- 
pally to  be  attributed  to  the  deficiency  of 
primary  and  subsequent  education,  which,  as 
it  is  generally  conducted,  excites  no  curios- 
ity; induces  no  perseverance;  creates  no 
taste  for  literature  and  science,  as  recreation 
of  the  mind;  and  fixes  no  moral  principles 
that  determine  the  value  of  high  things 
over  low  ones — over  low  frivolous,  or  de- 
basing gratifications,  which  the  people 
still  prefer  to  intellectual. 

Dr.  Southey,  in  a  late  work  on  the  Pros- 
pects of  Society,  has  this  passage.  "  In  a 
Report  of  the  Committee  for  enquiring  into 
the  increase  of  Commitments,  and  Convic- 
tions, in  London  and  Middlesex,  (1833,) 
it  states  that  notwithstanding  all  we  hear  of 
schools,  and  the  progress  of  education,  ju- 
venile depravity  was  never  so  unlimited  in 
degree,  or  desperate  in  character.  Would 
it  not  be  possible  to  place  this  whole  class 
within  the  reach  of  moral  and  intellectual 
gratifications,  whereby  they  may  be  rendered 


IN  PRUSSIA.  157 

healthier,  happier,  and  better  in  all  respects, 
an  improvement  which  will  not  be  more 
beneficial  to  them  as  individuals,  than  to 
the  whole  body  of  the  commonwealth?" 

"It  is  through  literature  and  science,'^ 
says  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  "that  we  may 
look  forward  with  confidence  to  a  state  of 
society,  in  which  the  diJ0ferent  orders  and 
classes  of  men,  will  contribute  more  effect- 
ually to  the  support  of  each  other,  than  they 
have  hitherto  done.  Considering  and  hop- 
ing, that  the  human  species  is  capable  of 
becoming  more  enlightened  and  more  hap- 
py, we  can  only  expect  that  the  difierent 
parts  of  the  great  whole  of  society,  should 
be  more  intimately  united  by  means  of 
knowledge;  that  they  should  act  as  the 
children  of  one  great  Parent,  with  one  de- 
termined end — the  good  of  the  whole;  so 
that  no  talent  may  be  rendered  useless,  and 
no  exertion  thrown  away." 

The  corruptions  of  society  no  one  doubts 
the  existence  of — Vice,  ignorance,  and  im- 
morality, in  forms  more  or  less  offensive 
and  injurious;  in  degrees  of  greater  or  less 
14 


158  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

manifestation;  in  greater  or  less  admixture 
with  counter  principles  of  virtue  and  knowl- 
edge, appear  every  where,  in  public  and  pri- 
vate life;  in  the  retired  country,  as  '^  in 
the  city  full."  The  same  remedy  is  requir- 
ed for  the  rich  as  the  poor;  better  founda- 
tions of  character;  more  information;  the 
principles  that  furnish  a  resource  of  enjoy- 
ment in  the  mind;  and  rules  of  conduct  for 
the  ordering  of  life,  and  for  the  regulation 
of  judgment  upon  every  question,  concern- 
ing right  and  wrong.  Providence  has  given 
every  human  creature,  without  any  natural 
exceptions,  all  human  faculties,  in  different 
measure  it  is  true,  for  the  use  of  each  indi- 
vidual, to  be  exercised,  and  assisted  by  care 
and  encouragement  of  others.  Any  system 
of  society — the  aggrandisement  of  a  few  by 
the  degradation  of  the  many;  the  prosperi- 
ty of  some,  and  the  consequent  cultivation 
of  their  powers,  to  the  loss  and  deteriora- 
tion of  others,  by  selfish  neglect  or  oppres- 
sive treatment  of  them — any  such  system, 
in  which  the  moral  and  intellectual  powers 
of  any  portion  of  a  nation   are  left  under- 


IN  PRUSSIA.  159 

valued  and  uncultivated,  or  receive  a  per- 
verse direction,  is  plainly  opposed  to  that 
system  of  nature  which  is  intimated  by  the 
primitive  equality  of  the  human  soul.  In 
other  words  such  neglect,  or  misusage  of 
any  members  of  society,  is  opposed  to  the 
will  of  the  universal  father,  who  gives  the 
interests  of  one  portion  of  his  great  family 
in  trust  to  others  more  favoured  than  they. 

To  those  who  love  the  young,  who  feel 
their  own  responsibility  to  the  rising  race^ 
and  to  society;  who  regard  the  welfare 
of  every  part  of  the  community  as  essen- 
tial to  the  whole;  who  believe  that  much  as 
education  now  does  for  society,  it  may  do 
more;  and  that  great  as  the  benefits  derived 
from  our  provisions  are,  they  may  be  great- 
er— greater  in  kind,  greater  in  degree, 
greater  in  diffusion;  to  such  persons  we  de- 
clare yet  once  more,  that  a  reformation  in 
elementary  teaching,  a  better  course  of 
study,  and  higher  purposes  in  the  teaching 
of  all  classes  of  people,  is  absolutely  called 
for;  and  we  earnestly  commend  to  parents 
and  teachers  to  seek  out  and  adopt  means,  of 


160  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

improvement.  Improved  school  books  must 
be  among  the  chief  instruments  of  this 
improvement  They  will  help  the  teacher 
as  much  as  the  learner. 

In  beginning  to  teach,  we  must,  if  we 
would  succeed,  begin  at  the  beginning  pro- 
perly.    When  we  teach  a  child  to  ready  we 
must  teach  him  to  think  also,  and  let  hi& 
first  books    describe   what  he  knows,,  or 
might  know.     Look  into  Webster's  Spell- 
ing  book,  or  almost  any  such  elementary 
book;  you  may  possibly  see  on  one:  line>. 
"  The  magnolia  is  the  largest  native  tree  of 
Oeorgia;"  and  on  the   next  maybe,.  "AJl 
sublunary  things  are  transitory.'^  Here  is- a: 
mixture  of  physical  fact  and  moral  abstrac- 
tion. Neither  in  such  a  form  will  da  a  child 
any  good,  but  will  only  stuff  his  memory 
with  words.      Words,  according  to  some 
persons,  constitute  the  chief  matter  of  edu- 
cation.    What  are  words  to  such  persons? 
Letters,  syllables,  oral  sounds — written  and 
printed  characters.     How  are  these  words 
to   be   applied?     After    certain   rules   laid 
down  in  a  book  of  grammar,  these  persons 


IN  PRUSSIA.  161 

would  say.  But,  words  to  a  philosophy 
cal  teacher  are  properly  signs  of  ideas. 
The  sign,  and  that  which  it  represents  ought 
not  to  be  disjoined  in  the  young  learner's 
mind;  and  it  is  the  province  of  the  educa- 
tor to  show  the  inseparable  connection  of 
these  signs  and  the  things  signified  by 
them. 

A  well  constructed  child's  book  is  its 
own  interpreter.  As  soon  as  a  child,  or  a 
class  of  children,  has  learned  letters,  and  ap- 
prehends short  words  at  sight,  give  the 
young  learner  a  book  which  describes  what 
he  already  knows,  the  simplest  facts  possi- 
ble; "  Paper  is  white,"  "  A  knife  is  sharp" 
are  specimens.  In  order  to  teach  the 
French  language  successfully.  Professor 
Ticknor,  late  of  Harvard  College,  has  given, 
in  a  lecture  upon  that  subject,  some  useful 
directions  that  are  of  wider  application  than 
his  lecture.  In  teaching  a  child  to  read  his 
own  vernacular  tongue,  we  shall  teach  the 
English  language;  but  Mr.  Ticknor's  di- 
rections, designed  for  the  French,  are  ap- 
propriate to  us  and  our  object.  They  belong 
14* 


162  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

philosophically  to  the  human  mind,  and  to 
the  art  of  teaching  generally.  To  teach 
French,  he  says,  "  Take  only  such  books,  in 
the  beginning  of  instruction,  as  in  their 
subjects  and  ideas,  their  manner  and  their 
tone,  are  below  the  age  of  the  child  to  be 
taught."  We  would  say,  proceed  after  this, 
beginning  with  the  first  book  and  its  con- 
sequent series,  from  the  familiar  to  the  new. 
"  It  is  not  well,"  Mr.  Ticknor  continues, 
"  to  use  collections  and  extract  books. 
They  are  not  interesting  to  the  learner;  they 
give  no  proper  knowledge,  but  rather  a 
false  impression  of  the  literature  they  in- 
tend to  represent;  and  they  are  not  well 
adapted  to  teach  even  the  language  itself,  be- 
cause by  changing  the  style  and  manner  so 
often,  an  opportunity  is  not  aflforded  to  be- 
come familiar  and  thorough  in  any  one." 

A  familiar  school  book,  which  might  be 
a  second  or  third,  successive  to  the  al- 
phabetical lessons,  and  the  first  sentences  in 
monosyllables — which  need  not  therefore  be 
foolish  nor  uninstructive — might  teach  the 
child   his   duties.     "  Do  to   others   as  you 


IN  PRUSSIA.  163 

would  have  them  do  to  you.'^  Thou  shalt 
not  covet,  nor  kill,  nor  be  aogry,  nor  take 
another's  property,  may  all  be  taught  in 
an  infant's  book.  Teach  in  such  a  book, 
that  God  created  the  world  and  all  things 
in  it,  giving  at  the  same  time  lessons  on  the 
different  kingdoms  of  nature  as  parts  of 
creation. 

A  book  may  also  teach  a  child  the  organs 
and  offices  of  his  own  senses,  and  he  can 
compare  hislesisons  with  the  parts  of  his  body, 
and  their  uses.  The  functions  and  operation 
of  the  mind  and  body  are  demonstrated  by 
consciousness  and  experience.  Give  the  child 
in  his  book  the  language  that  explains  his 
feelings,  and  his  own  voluntary  and  invol- 
untary acts,  and  you  will  not  only  enlarge 
his  vocabulary,  you  will  multiply  his  ideas, 
and  increase  his  power  of  communicating 
them.  You  do  not  wish  to  make  a  child 
an  anatomist  or  a  metaphysician,  you  may 
say.  You  cannot,  if  you  would,  make  him 
either.  But  you  can  most  easily  teach  him 
enough  of  the  laws  that  are  illustrated  in 
himself,  to  commence  the  study  of  human 


166  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

more  general;  History  moral,  and  descrip- 
tive of  manners — full  of  anecdote  and  char- 
acter, rather  than  of  political  negociation, 
points  of  chronology,  and  statistical  tables — 
are  the  proper  attractive  and  edifying  geo- 
graphy and  history  for  the  young. 

Much  more  might  be  said  of  the  defects 
of  our  common  elementary  books,  but  it  is 
enough  to  show  that  they  fail  alike  of  the 
adaptation  and  true  objects  of  rational  edu- 
cation. The  spirit  and  the  method  of  that 
education  are  indicated  in  the  abstract 
which  forms  the  first  part  of  this  little  vol- 
ume; and  the  worth  of  our  institutions  for 
education  as  they  are,  are,  it  is  hoped,  ap- 
preciated in  it  as  they  deserve.  To  com- 
mend their  prospective  value,  and  their 
possible  influence  in  accomplishing  the  best 
good  of  this  nation,  is  the  only  design  of  the 
writer  in  offering  the  preceding  views  of 
them  to  the  public,  and  especially  to  influential 
persons,  in  those  parts  of  our  country  which 
yet  stand  in  need  of  institutions,  enjoyed 
and  estimated  in  others.  The  design  of  this 
little  work  will  be  accomplished,  if  it  should, 


IN  PRUSSIA.  167 

in  any  measure,  dispose,  those  who  cherish 
the  common  welfare  and  intelligence  of  this 
people  to  equal  and  excel  the  provisions  of 
every  other  country,  in  their  generous  cares 
for  the   moral   advancement  of  this. 


In  page  97  mention  was  made  of  the  ele- 
mentary books  used  in  the  Prussian  schools. 
The  books  used  in  those  schools,  in  the 
Duchy  of  Saxe  Weimar,  and  in  general, 
all  over  Germany,  are  books  of  adapta- 
tion. The  few  common  class  books  taught 
in  all  the  popular  schools  of  Saxe  Weimar 
have  been  thus  described  : 

<'  The  first  class-book  is  designed  for  the 
youngest  children;  it  contains  in  regular 
gradation,  the  alphabet,  the  composition  of 
syllables;  punctuation,  slight  stories,  sen- 
tences or  proverbs  of  one  verse,  &c,  <  These 
sentences,'  said  the  great  French  philoso- 
pher. Cousin,  '  struck  me  particularly;  they 
contain  in  the  most  agreeable  shapes,  the 
most  valuable  lessons,  which  the  author 
classes  under    systematic   titles — such   as, 


168  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

our  duty  to  ourselves;  our  duties  to  men;  our 
duties  to  God,  and  the  knowledge  of  his 
divine  attributes — so  that,  in  the  germ  of 
literature,  the  infant  receives  also  the  germ 
of  religion  and  morals.'  " 

The  second  book  is  like  the  first  in  kind. 
It  does  not  contain  pathetic,  didactic,  and 
poetical  scraps — it  advances  the  moral,  and 
commences  scientific  instruction  in  strict 
connection  of  parts. 

"  The  second  book  for  the  use  of  children, 
from  eight  to  ten,  is  not  only  composed  of 
amusing  sketches,  the  author  touches  upon 
matters  of  general  utility.  He  proceeds  on 
the  just  idea  that  the  knowledge  of  the  fa- 
culties of  the  soul  ought  a  little  to  precede 
the  more  profound  explanations  of  religion; 
under  the  head  of  a  dialogue  between  a 
father  and  his  children,  the  book  treats,  first, 
of  man  and  his  physical  qualities;  secondly, 
of  the  nature  of  the  soul,  and  its  faculties, 
with  some  notions  of  our  powers  of  pro- 
gressive improvement,  and  our  heritage  of 
immortality;  and   thirdly,   it   contains  the 


IN  PRUSSIA.  169 

earliest  and   simplest  elements   of  natural 
history,  botany,  and  mineralogy." 

The  third  book  is  a  continuation  of  the 
second.  It  examines  the  rational  nature  of 
man — the  distinction  between  him  and 
brute  animals;  and  thence  deduces  the  mo- 
ral obligations.  It  inquires.  What  am  I? 
What  can  I  do?  What  ought  I  to  do,  and 
avoid  doing?  The  most  intelligible  terms 
— a  matter  of  infinite  importance — and  the 
clearest  illustrations  are  made  use  of  to  ex- 
press and  enforce  the  moral  responsibilities. 
The  geography,  and  also  the  history  of  the 
country  in  brief,  are  subjoined. 

^«  The  fourth  book  addresses  itself  to  ad- 
vanced pupils;  it  continues  the  subjects  of 
the  preceding  books,  but  amplifies  them,  and 
explains  the  political  structure  of  society; 
*«  it  proceeds  to  conduct  the  boy,  already 
made  rational  as  a  being,  to  the  duties  of  a 
citizen.  Such  are  the  four  class-books  used 
in  the  popular  schools  of  Saxe  Weimar. 
Such  is  the  foundation  of  the  united,  in- 
tellectual, and  lofty  spirit  of  the  subjects  of 
that  principality." 
15 


170  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

The  highly  moral  and  rational  charac- 
ter of  these  school  books  is  clearly  indicated 
by  the  preceding  statement. 


Basedow, 

Among  the  practical  reformers  of  popu- 
lar education  in  Germany,  John  Bernard 
Basedow,  is  entitled  to  particular  mention. 
This  man,  the  son  of  a  wig-maker  in  Ham- 
burg, suffered  much  in  his  early  life,  from 
harsh  treatment  and  neglected  education,  so 
that  he  fled  from  the  paternal  roof,  and  en- 
gaged for  a  year  as  a  domestic  servant,  with 
a  physician  in  the  province  of  Holstein. 
His  father  afterwards  persuaded  him  to  re- 
turn to  his  protection,  and  placed  him  in 
the  Gymnasium  of  his  native  city.  There 
he  was  suffered  to  give  private  tuition  after 
his  sixteenth  year,  and  thus  supported  him- 
self. 

In  1753,  when  Basedow  had  attained  the 
age  of  thirty,  he  was  chosen  professor  of 
moral  philosophy  and  belles  lettres  in  the 


IN  PRUSSIA.  171 

academy  of  Soroe  in  Denmark.  His  active 
and  enlarged  mind  could  not  limit  itself  to 
the  interests  of  mere  learning,  or  of  a  single 
institution.  The  improvement  of  education 
in  all  its  applications,  formed,  in  his  appre- 
hension, the  best  enterprise  that  a  true 
philanthropist  could  engage  in;  and  in  or- 
der to  call  general  attention  to  this  subject, 
he  published  a  work  on  the  Morality  of  all 
Conditions,  v^rhich  first  expressed  to  the 
world  his  views  of  a  practical  reform  in 
school  education;  and  his  lectures  on  mo- 
rality and  religion,  which  were  attended  by 
many  of  the  young  nobility  and  their  tu- 
tors, also  expressed  opinions  of  the  same 
character.  Basedow  was  afterwards  remov- 
ed to  the  Gymnasium  at  Altona.  Wherever 
he  resided  he  made  himself  acquainted 
with  persons  most  eminent  for  learning  and 
influence,  and  he  did  not  fail  every  where 
to  enlist  their  sympathies  in  his  favourite 
project. 

In   that  he  was  happily  encouraged  by 

his  most  enlightened  friends.    Count  Bern- 

■  storf,  the   wise  and   excellent   minister  of 


172  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

Frederick  V.  of  Denmark,  was  one  of  the 
chief  of  these,  and  aided  Basedow  with  his 
best  influence.  Convinced  that  a  country 
however  populous,  and  however  abundant 
in  riches,  cannot  be  happy  without  religion 
and  good  morals,  Bernstorf  held  that  these 
are  best  promoted  by  proper  instruction.  As 
a  direct  means  to  promote  this  important 
interest  of  society,  he  procured  a  release  of 
Basedow  from  Altona,  and  obtained  for 
him,  from  the  king  of  Denmark,  a  pension 
of  ^800.  This  provision  allowed  him 
liberty  to  proceed  in  the  work  of  reforma- 
tion which  he  had  commenced. 

In  1768,  Basedow  drew  up  a  plan  for 
what  he  considered  a  practical  reform  of 
popular  education,  which  met  with  the  ap- 
probation of  the  enlightened  Bernstorf. 
The  next  year  he  published  proposals  to  the 
benevolent  and  wealthy,  on  schools  and 
study,  with  the  plan  of  an  "  Elementary 
Book  of  Knowledge,^^  and  by  an  extract 
from  this  work  furnished  a  clear  illustration 
of  his  proposed  mode  of  instruction.  He 
urgently  insisted  in  the  "  Proposals"  on  the 


IN  PRUSSIA.  17  3 

necessity  of  altering  from  the  beginning 
the  existing  method  of  education,   and  re- 
commended the  immediate  establishment  of 
a  seminary  for  instruction  of  teachers  in  ra- 
tional method,  with  a  school  of  experiment 
annexed,  which  might  exercise  the  skill  of 
the  teachers  under  discipline,  and  demon- 
strate the  principles  assumed  in  the  course 
proposed.     He  also  ofifered  to  prepare  such 
books  of  rudiments  and  progressive  instruc- 
tion as  were  indispensable  to  the  new  me- 
thod.    To  defray  the  expense  of  publishing 
these,  he  required   adequate  funds,  and  he 
appealed  to  the  benevolent  and  wealthy,  to 
furnish   them.      He  addressed  letters  with 
his  plan    to   kings,  princes,   and   men   of 
letters  soliciting  their  concurrence;  nor  did 
he  ask  in  vain.       Catherine   H.   read  his 
petition    with    approbation,     sent    him    a 
thousand   rix-dollars,  and  invited   him  to 
make  her  dominions  the  field  of  his  opera- 
tions.    The  king  of  Denmark,  the  heredi- 
tary prince  of  Brunswick,  and  other  of  the 
German  princes,  aided  and  encouraged  him. 
Klopstock,  Lavater,  and  Mendelsohn,  were 
15* 


174  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

among  his  friends  and  patrons,  and  presents 
and  subscriptions  flowed  in  from  all  quar- 
ters; of  these  a  considerable  portion  was 
procured  by  the  exertions  of  Lavater  in 
Switzerland. 

Thus  encouraged,  Basedow,  procured  the 
assistance  of  Mr.  Wolke,a  competent  person, 
to  prepare  books  of  mathematics,  natural  his- 
tory, and  technology.     In  1770,  he  publish- 
ed a  "  Methodical  Book,"  for  the  use  of 
fathers  and  mothers  of  families,  and  of  the 
common  classes  of  mankind,  and  soon  after 
an   "Elementary   Book,'^   illustrated  with 
copper  plates.     This  work  was  soon  trans- 
lated into  French  and  Latin,  and  came   to 
frequent  republications.     It  met  with  the 
fate  of  all  works  of  theory  and  innovation; 
was  highly  commended  in  some  respectable 
journals,  and  equally  disparaged  in  others 
as  an  attempt  to  supplant  the  established 
system.     In  1772,  Basedow  visited  Leipsic, 
Halle,   and   Berlin,    where   institutions   of 
Francke     and    his    followers    for    educa- 
tion    of     teachers     were     in     operation. 
He  made   this  visit    of    observation    that 
he  might  derive   from   these   institutions. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  175 

every  possible  improvement  to  his  own  pre- 
conceptions of  a  judicious  school  of  Method. 
The  prince  of  Dessau,  about  that  time,  in- 
vited him  to  settle  in  his  capital,  and  pro- 
mised him  a  pension.  Already  a  pensioner 
of  the  king  of  Denmark,  but  believing  Des- 
sau to  be  a  favourable  position  for  his  exer- 
tions, Basedow  communicated  his  views  to 
the  Danish  sovereign,  who  consented  readi- 
ly to  his  removal,  and  generously  continued 
his  pension,  and  at  Dessau,  the  reformer  of 
schools  afterwards  took  up  his  residence. 
There  he  published,  during  a  period  of  six 
years,  a  series  of  Elementary  Books  which 
were,  like  the  former,  illustrated  with  cop- 
per-plates, and  were  of  the  same  character; 
books  of  positive  ideas;  such  as  agree  with 
the  first  observations  and  experience  of  the 
young,  and  which  were  progressively  accom- 
modated to  the  enlargement  of  the  wants 
and  powers  of  the  intelligent  being. 

In  1774,  Basedow,  opened  at  Dessau  his 
Philanthropinum,  or  school  for  teachers, 
&c.  This  school  was  continued  but  a  few 
years;  at  times  with  abundant  patronage  and 


176  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

satisfactory  success,  but  not  without  inter- 
mitted prosperity,  so  that  at  length  the  pro- 
jector abandoned  it;  but  the  soundness  of 
the  principles  in  which  it  was  founded  were 
sufficiently  proved  by  the  experiment;  the 
partial  results  of  which  accorded  in  fact 
with  those  more  successfully  carried  out  in 
the  schools  of  Halle,  Berlin,  &c. 

Basedow,  not  disheartened  by  the  failure 
of  his  undertaking,  never  withdrew  himself 
from  actual  service  in  behalf  of  education; 
nor  did  his  influence  upon  its  practical  im- 
provement ever  diminish.  His  books  were 
operating  upon  young  minds  to  considera- 
ble extent;  the  principles  he  had  promul- 
gated, were  germinating  wherever  they 
had  been  diffused;  and  he  was  treated  with 
great  respect  every  where  for  "  his  work's 
sake'' — ^particularly  in  the  city  of  Magde- 
burg. In  that  city  he  spent  his  last  days, 
and  employed  himself  in  forming  a  plan  by 
which  children  were  initiated  in  reading 
with  facility,  pleasure,  and  profit.  He 
caused  this  plan  to  be  extensively  distribut- 
ed, and  introduced  himself  into  the  primary 


IN  PRUSSIA.  177 

schools  of  Magdeburg,  where  he  laboured 
gratuitously,  three  or  four  hours  daily,  and 
had  the  pleasure  at  length  of  seeing  his 
system,  not  only  successful,  but  generally 
employed,  and  greatly  approved. 

For  these  unwearied  services  to  the  cause 
of  education,  no  profit  accrued  to  himself; 
generous  princes  supplied  his  moderate 
wants,  and  society  enjoyed  the  benefits  of 
his  valuable  labours.  Another  favourite 
employment  of  this  philanthropist,  was  the 
examination  of  pure  Christianity;  and  in 
this  investigation  it  is  asserted  that  he  prov- 
ed himself  to  be  a  warm  friend  to  truth,  and 
a  strong  advocate  for  religion  and  virtue. 
He  could  not  have  laboured  so  long  and 
generously  for  society  without  the  incen- 
tive and  consolation  of  Christian  love.  On 
religious  subjects,  and  upon  the  subject  of 
education  he  left  upwards  of  fifty  treatises. 
Basedow  died  1790,  in  the  67th  year  of  his 
age. 

The  example  of  this  particular  individual 
as  a  benefactor  of  schools  is  selected  for  this 
little  work,  'as  an  exhibition   of  the  spirit 


178  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

which  ought  to  enter  into  this  service,  to 
give  effect  to  it,  and  also  of  the  circumstan- 
ces which  render  that  spirit  in  an  individual, 
available  to  the  community.  Basedow  num- 
bered men  powerful  for  wealth,  for  influence 
upon  public  opinion,  and  for  genius  and  vir- 
tue among  his  direct  encouragers  and  help- 
ers. Learned  himself,  there  was  no  pride 
nor  exclusion  in  that  learning;  he  wished 
not  to  admit  a  few  only  within  his  own  halo, 
where  they  could  be  seen  and  worshipped 
afar  off,  by  the  ignorant  sitting  in  darkness. 
He  desired  that  the  most  precious  blessing 
of  his  existence — enlarged  intelligence — the 
light  of  the  mind,  should  be  free  as  the  light 
of  day;  and  in  order  to  diffuse  that  pure 
light  he  abandoned  all  personal  advantages, 
and  gave  himself  entirely  to  a  moral  minis- 
try for  the  benefit  of  others.  But  neither 
his  love  of  knowledge,  nor  of  his  fellow  be- 
ings; the  wisdom  of  his  designs;  nor  the 
facility  of  their  applications,  would  have 
availed  him  for  efficient  execution,  unless 
the  men  of  his  age  had  been  informed  with 
his  spirit;  unless  they  had  appreciated  him. 


IN  PRUSSIA.  179 

and  his  enterprise;  unless  the  same  regard 
for  the  moral  welfare  of  the  young,  and  of 
the  people,  had  been  cherished  in  their 
hearts;  and  unless  the  same  conception  of 
means,  as  well  as  the  same  estimation  of  re- 
sults, had  entered  into  their  views. 

In  this   country  a  more  enlarged  public 
spirit,  a  more  patient   attention  to  detail,  a 
more  generous  encouragement  to  individual 
effort  than  are  now  given  to  the  subject,  must 
elevate  our  popular  education,  or  it  will  not 
be  elevated.     Practical  men  well  informed, 
and  sincerely  interested,  must  examine  the 
elementary  works  used   in   our   schools;  a 
wise  criticism  must  be  exerted  upon  them 
if  they  are  expected  to  accomplish  any  great 
good — which  undoubtedly  they  might.  The 
superficial,  ill    adapted,  inaccurate,  and  of- 
tentimes exceedingly  vulgar  books,  put  into 
the  hands  of  children  at  school,  by  specula- 
tors and  compend  makers,  debase  literature; 
and  make  the  true  minister  of  things  high  and 
holy — things  lovely  and  of  good  report,  the 
very  organ  of  belittleing  the  human  soul; 
of  narrowing  the  province  of  intellect;  ot 


ISO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

adulterating  the  wine  of  life;  of  deteriora- 
ting the  bread  that  comes  down  from  heaven 
in  the  forms  of  science,  of  poetry,  and  of 
true  morality.  0  that  some  generous  spirit 
would  engage  in  this  work,  would  declare 
the  censure  of  the  sound  mind  upon  unpro- 
fitable teaching;  would  purge  the  infected 
world  of  the  foul  abuse,  daily  and  hourly 
practised  upon  millions  of  the  young;  would 
call  out  and  encourage  the  labours  of  the 
learned  in  behalf  of  little  children;  and 
would  not  forbid  any  of  them,  how  humbly 
born  soever,  to  come  and  drink  freely  at  the 
public  fountain  of  sound  knowledge,  nor 
suffer  any  to  mistake  false  doctrine  for 
words  of  wisdom — for  principles  of  right 
action,  of  correct  judgment,  and  of  that 
taste  which  is  in  harmony  with  both;  which 
is  the  grace  and  ornament  of  thought,  of 
art,  and  of  human  conduct;  and  which  is 
as  much  neglected,  and  as  much  vitiated  in> 
our  popular  education,  as  those  faculties 
which  perform  the  more  indispensable  func- 
tions of  rational,  and  improvable  beings! 


aa 

in   t 

true  i 

would 

the  ceuL 

fitable  tt 

world  of 

practised  i. 

call  out  anc 

learned   in  L 

would  not  fori 

born  soever,  to  t 

public   fountain  l 

suffer   any   to   mist. 

words  of  wisdom — fc 

action,  of    correct  judg 

taste  which  is  in  harmony  . 

is   the  grace   and   ornament 

art,  and  of  human  conduct;  a. 

as  much  neglected,  and  as  much 

our  popular  education,   as   those 

which  perform  the  more  indispensab. 

lions  of  rational,  and  improvable  being. 


'^fJ^'ONA 


mn^'^'^FAO:'r. 


B    0000^^^^ 


